SEVEN AILMENTS YOU SHOULD BE WARY OF

The trickle of patients with monsoon diseases, which hospitals have started getting, will turn into a deluge if you do not take precautions

CASES IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS
 The figures, provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's epidemiology cell, are of patients admitted to only public hospitals from 8 am on Sunday to 8 am on Monday; but they give an idea of the diseases that we need to be wary of.
    Jaundice and typhoid have not been included in the list because the incubation period of these two diseases is longer than a couple of days. Doctors, with the experience of the past few monsoons, say these cases will start pouring in in the next few days.

LEPTOSPIROSIS
    It is a bacterial infection caused by the leptospira bacteria spread through water contaminated with the urine of rats and dogs.
    Symptoms include high fever, muscle aches, severe headaches, abdominal pain and vomiting or loose motions. The patient may have a damaged kidney or develop respiratory distress if the initial symptoms are left untreated.
    The incubation period varies between 5 days and 4 weeks.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Avoid wading through flood water especially if you have cuts or abrasions on your feet/legs. Always wash your feet after walking through muck.
AROUND THE WORLD
Leptospirosis outbreaks were reported even in Florida and Illinois in 2007.

VIRAL FEVER
    It may be caused by a host of viral infections which result in raised body temperatures and weakness.
    Symptoms include fever, chills, body ache, coughs and colds.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Avoid getting wet in the rain. Change into dry clothes and shoes if you do and avoid sitting in an airconditioned room.

MALARIA
    It is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite and is usually of two types: vivax or falciparum. The second is more worrying and could be life-threatening.
Symptoms include fever with chills and a flu-like illness.
    The incubation period varies between 3 days and 5 days.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Empty out all water collected in flower pots, old tyres or pans or other articles, regularly clean overhead tanks in buildings and use mosquito nets and insecticides.
AROUND THE WORLD
Between 35 crore and 50 crore cases of malaria are reported worldwide each year; they cause over 10 lakh deaths.

DENGUE
    It is an infectious disease carried from person to person by the tiger mosquito (Aedes aegypti).
    Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, severe headache, a falling platelet count; it could occassionally cause shock and haemorrhage, leading to death.
    The incubation period varies between 5 days and a week.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Keep mosquitoes away and avoid collection of water around home or office.
AROUND THE WORLD
There are around 5 crore to 10 cases of dengue fever and several hundred thousand dengue haemorrhagic fever cases every year. The average fatality rate of the latter is about 5 per cent.

GASTROENTERITIS
    It is an infection or inflammation of the digestive tract and may be caused by a virus or bacterium.
Symptoms may include vomiting, a watery diarrhoea with or without fever. The incubation period varies between 12 hours and 24 hours.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Avoid ice, roadside food, cut fruits and boil your drinking water.
AROUND THE WORLD
Gastro-intestinal infections are common everywhere and, even in the United States, it is estimated to cause 23 million illnesses a year.

TYPHOID
    It is an illness brought about by the inflammation of the intestines and is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria.
    Symptoms include unrelenting fever, rashes and overall weakness.
    The incubation period is usually 10 days.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Drink boiled water, wash your hands after visiting the toilet and try to avoid outside food as drinks or foodstuff contaminated with the bacteria can give you the ailment. Vaccines are available as well.
AROUND THE WORLD
    There are only about 400 cases of typhoid annually in the United States and 75 per cent of these are acquired through international travel.

JAUNDICE
    It is a c o n d i t i o n associated with an increase of bilirubin in the blood, which can cause liver disease. It is caused by the hepatitis virus.
    Symptoms include yellowness of eyes and skin and vomiting.
    The incubation period varies between 15 days and 20 days.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Drink boiled water; hepatitis vaccines are available.
    Icons: Deepa Suryanarayanan