Deaths fuel fears of post-flood epidemic in Bombay
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Hospitals in Bombay had admitted hundreds of people with fever and reported 26 deaths by Thursday, an official said, rekindling fears of an epidemic in India’s financial capital weeks after the worst floods in history.
More than 1,000 people were killed in the western Indian state of Maharasthra two weeks ago after record rain in the region triggered landslides and floods that brought Bombay, its capital, to a halt for a few days.
A municipal spokesman said 250 people had been admitted to hospitals, but played down concerns about an epidemic in and around India’s largest city, which is home to more than 15 million people.
“Only 26 are dead. You cannot call that an epidemic. If people, thousands of people are admitted in hospital, then it’s a different matter,” said Dadasaheb Shivjatak.
Rotting garbage and animal carcasses left behind by receding waters had raised fears of disease and hundreds of medical teams were deployed across the state, although initial health problems were largely stomach related due to dirty water.
Doctors said more serious disease outbreaks might lie ahead as it can take up to a few weeks to gauge the full effects of leptospirosis, which is carried by rats, and mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.
“We have had five deaths of suspected dengue and leptospirosis,” said doctor Rahul Mirwankar, who runs the intensive care unit of the V.N. Desai Hospital.
He said nine patients had the symptoms and two had confirmed leptospirosis and dengue.
“More are coming in from other hospitals which don’t have the facilities to treat them,” he added. “It seems like an epidemic.”
Officials at other hospitals were also awaiting results of lab tests to confirm cases of suspected cholera and leptospirosis.
A doctor at a hospital in the northern suburb of Thane said more patients than usual had been treated for diarrhoea and fever.
“We are also issuing guidelines to private doctors for the treatment of leptospirosis and dengue because they need very specific treatment and do not require highly priced antibiotics,” he said.
“It takes 10-12 days for leptospirosis to manifest and people have been in the water up to July 31 in some cases, so we will watch till Aug. 15 for leptospirosis symptoms,” he added.
A medical officer at St. George Hospital in south Bombay, which was not as badly affected by the floods, said there had been a few suspected cholera cases.
Days of serious disruption followed the region’s worst day of monsoon rains on record on July 26, and the cost of the damage is expected to run into the billions of dollars.
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