Hyderabad: The twin cites of Hyderabad and Secunderabad have been soaked for seven straight days, and the aftereffects are already showing up in the city’s clinics. With temperatures dipping and water collecting in open spaces, cases of colds, coughs and fevers are on the upswing. Doctors are warning that the next wave could be worse — dengue, malaria, chikungunya, diarrhoea, typhoid, even hepatitis — if preventive action isn’t taken fast.
What’s making the situation worse, health experts say, is the lack of early intervention. In previous years, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the state health department would start disease-control drives well before the monsoon — usually a couple of months ahead. This year, no such coordinated push has been seen.
Mosquito boom, water worries
Even a few spells of rain have been enough to send mosquito numbers soaring. Residents in several localities are already complaining of a surge, but the GHMC’s usual pre-monsoon anti-larval treatments and fogging drives seem to be missing in action.
Doctors say the sticky, rain-heavy weather right now is practically an open invitation for mosquitoes — and the illnesses they carry — to thrive. But bites aren’t the only danger. Dirty water and spoiled food can just as quickly set off bouts of diarrhoea, typhoid or hepatitis. Their message to the public is blunt: don’t let the mosquitoes get to you, watch what you drink, and don’t shrug off early symptoms.
