Mumbai: There has been a 22 per cent dip in the number of malaria cases recorded in June, compared to the same time last year, according to the health report of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. According to data from the civic health department, 310 people in the city district were detected positive, against 392 in June 2018. Health officials have attributed this decline to the continuous process of awareness and the adoption of preventive measures, such as destroying the breeding spots of mosquitoes. Officials said they had undertaken several initiatives like fumigation, fogging and ensuring that mosquitoes did not breed. The latter was accomplished by creating awareness amongst the public, asking them to not store water and keep the civic authorities informed if breeding spots were seen.
“We had identified the breeding spots and had released guppy fish to make sure that the mosquito larvae are eaten and there is no mosquito breeding,” said officials. The BMC had also issued an advisory to garages and construction sites, directing them to take preventive measures and threatening them with action for failing to do so. “We have inspected metro pits, collected water samples and are fogging underground construction areas. We also detected the larvae of dengue and malaria causing mosquitoes, which were destroyed by our monsoon expert team,” said health officials.
According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) executive health officer Dr Padmaja Keskar, “Mosquito-borne diseases are common in monsoon. Due to accumulation of dirty and stagnant water in various spots and garbage, there is a growth in the number of mosquitoes and eventually, an outbreak of disease.”
The BMC advisory says food and water-borne diseases are reasonably common during monsoon, especially when one eats outside food, while faulty food habits cause infections. “Consumption of contaminated food can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever, food poisoning. The best way to avoid sickness is to avoid eating and drinking outside. Drink boiled water and wash hands before eating food,” said officials.
How fever goes viral
Infections during the monsoon usually start with tonsillitis, cold and cough and gradually spread to the rest of the body. Symptoms of viral fever are body and muscle pain, headache, joint pain, redness of eyes, skin rashes and nasal congestion. Some people also experience nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. The treatment of viral fever is entirely symptomatic and it usually comes down after four or five days.
