After the scorching summer, everyone waits for the rains with bated breath. Though monsoons bring relief to our body and soul, it is always accompanied with a flurry of diseases.
The most common diseases being: mosquito borne, water borne and illness related to food contamination.
It’s imperative to take adequate precautions from falling ill during the rainy season. Mosquito borne diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya have a very complex multistage lifecycle. In case of malaria which is spread by the anopheles mosquito, upon infection, the parasite makes its way to the liver, where it incubates for days before re-entering the bloodstream and infecting; ultimately destroying healthy red blood cells leading to critical condition. Seven to ten days may pass before the symptoms of malaria manifest. In certain types of malaria the parasites live in the liver cells for many months.
The symptoms of Dengue include high grade fever, severe bone pain and joint ache. At times the patient may suffer from a severe form of the disease called Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever where the patient has increased bleeding tendency due to reduced platelet count.
Chikungunya, like dengue, is characterised by fever, rash and joint pain and swellings.
Usually the joint pains last for months following recovery from the illness. Both Dengue and Chikungunya are spread by the Aedes mosquito and have similar symptoms.
It is important that one visits the doctor and gets the correct blood tests done to diagnose these diseases. With monsoon comes contamination of drinking water. Clogged drains are one of the reasons for this contamination leading to diseases like typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and gastroenteritis. Typhoid presents with fever and mild nausea/vomiting and diarrhoea. But in certain individuals fever could be the only symptom.
Symptoms of Cholera are excessive watery diarrhoea typically called the “rice water stools” and vomiting associated with fever.
Hepatitis A which is caused by consumption of contaminated water/food usually presents with loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting and jaundice. Gastroenteritis also presents with diarrhoea and vomiting.
Dr Gowri Kulkarni, Personal Physician