Hyderabad sees dip in seasonal ailments

Hyderabad: The second wave of the Covid pandemic has led to a significant decline in seasonal ailments across Hyderabad and surrounding districts in the months of April and May. As people prefer to remain indoors, take precautions like sanitizing hands, wearing masks and focus on general hygiene of their immediate surroundings, other seasonal ailments in Hyderabad have taken a dip, district health authorities said.

To manage the surge of Covid infections, almost all the government tertiary hospitals in Hyderabad are operating dedicated Covid outpatient services. Moreover, due to the highly infectious nature of the Covid, individuals in need of non-emergency medical services tend to postpone their visit to the hospitals, senior doctors said.

In order to control cross-infection between non-Covid and Covid patients, government hospitals including Osmania General Hospital, Fever Hospital, Nallakunta and Chest Hospital had shut down their normal OPs and conduct only fever OPs. Senior doctors said that the seasonal ailments will continue to drop further in the month of May due to the imposition of lockdown.

“We are operating only fever OPs and distributing kits to patients with Covid-like symptoms. Since last month, due to the surge in Covid infections, outpatient visits for seasonal ailments have come down, and it is likely to go down further during lockdown. Even elective surgeries in government hospitals had to be postponed to provide healthcare services to Covid patients,” says Superintendent, OGH, Dr B Nagender.

Between March and June, Hyderabad and its surrounding districts usually witness a significant spike in cases of seasonal ailments due to rise in temperatures. Cases of food poisoning, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, heat strokes and other water-borne ailments are the most common seasonal ailments that see a spike during summer.

As families stay indoors, they do not get exposed to outside food and water, which are the main triggering factors for water-borne diseases. The months of April and May are also known for heat strokes, which have so far remained under control, as people avoid venturing out unnecessarily. “Due to the surge in infections, at present, our focus is on fever surveys, door-to-door visits and ensuring pregnant women are able to reach maternity hospitals for their regular health check-ups. We urge people to continue to take precautions, avoid coming out in large numbers between 6 am and 10 am and make lockdown a success,” District Medical and Health Officer, Dr Venkati urged.

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