Clinics bursting at seams as cases of seasonal infections surge in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Following a week-long spell of rain, the hospitals and clinics across the city are bursting into seams with patients, mostly children, as large section of suburbanites are in grip of seasonal diseases.

Apart from government hospitals, the private medical care facilities, Basti Dawakhanas, dispensaries and clinics too are witnessing an increased foot fall of the people suffering from seasonal infections that include viral fever, influenza, dengue, diarrhoea and other vector-borne diseases.

"Since last 10 days, we are witnessing rapid increase in child patients. Most of the cases are of pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infection and dengue that left children completely emaciated," informed Dr Mohammed Azam, a pediatrician who runs a clinic in the city.

To fend-off children from such health complications, he said, it is better to administer them with vaccines of pneumonia and influenza which are widely available in both government and private health care facilities. "Wearing masks, drinking warm water and avoiding outdoor food will largely safeguard people and children in particular from seasonal infections," he advised.

"There has been an unusual surge in vector-borne diseases in the last few weeks with the onset of the monsoon. Climatic conditions too amplified propagation of the infections. Most importantly, the cases of dengue have shown significant increase in the recent weeks. We even come across a few cases of dengue co-infection in the Covid-19 patients as well. The other vector-borne diseases such as malaria, leptospirosis, and scrub typhus have also been increasingly detected in patients," informed Dr Monalisa Sahu, consultant infectious diseases in a city-based hospital.

In the absence of State-run healthcare facilities in the areas, people by and large prefer local private clinics and underprivileged dispensaries as first point of contact to treat their health complications, Basti Dawakhanas and dispensaries in localities hold significance and portray a clear picture about the number of people getting affected with seasonal diseases.