Achoo! City faces spike in flu, cold, cough cases

Hyderabad: After a surge in the dengue, malaria, and chikungunya cases during the last couple of months, the cases are coming down to double digits in various hospitals in the city. However, the cases of flu, cold, and cough have increased thanks to the changing weather conditions.

According to the officials, the number of Out-Patients (OPs) has also decreased in the government hospitals in the city. During the months of August and September, on average, there were 1,500 out-patients every day at Fever Hospital in Nallakunta, and now the number has decreased to 400 to 500 patients.

While the number of dengue cases in September in the city was 1,542 and in October it was 854. The cases saw a decline from the start of November, and till November 22, the cases registered were only 168. Similarly, the malaria cases in the city were 26 in September and 13 in October; the number has decreased to a single digit of just five cases. The chikungunya cases, which were 183 in September, decreased to some extent in October with 74, and in November just 13 cases were reported.

As per a report from the World Health Organisation, of Telangana had become a high transmission zone of dengue cases in the world, as the State has reported the highest number of cases. The experts had said that the reason for such a trend was because of various reasons like climate change, massive urbanisation, and the construction activity in the city all year. They stressed the need for the government to have coordination and collaboration among the stakeholders.

The city hospitals are now receiving a good number of flu, cold, and cough cases. The doctors said that the change in the climatic conditions. The temperatures in the city, particularly at night, have gone down to 16 degrees centigrade and they are going to decrease further in the coming days, said senior physician in the city, Dr S Satyanarayana. He said that people need to be cautious with the cold wave in the coming days and should focus on building immunity and also take up exercise.