Mumbai: 17 years old dies of leptospirosis, fourth victim of this monsoon

The BMC distributed preventive medicine to 17,106 people living in slums in low-lying areas (Representation)

As heavy rains continue to hit the city, leptospirosis was its fourth victim last week – a 17-year-old boy from Worli . The doctors, while claiming that leptospirosis cases have exploded over the last fortnight, have attributed the increase in cases to floods in several parts of the city.

Karan Chandu Singh (17 years old), a school dropout, reportedly delayed hospitalization. City officials said Singh visited Worli Sea Face during heavy rains and developed fever three days later. Initially, he visited a private doctor in Worli and, when the fever did not subside, he went to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) clinic the next day. By the third day of fever, he had begun to vomit blood. "We gave him antimalarial and prophylactic drugs, a smear test was also carried out but leptospirosis could not be confirmed at the clinic, it was advised to go to the BMC hospital", said an official from the South Parish.

Singh's medical records reveal that he was admitted to the KEM hospital on July 12, a week after developing symptoms of leptospirosis. "The patient was brought to critical condition … with respiratory distress and hemoptysis," said a city official. Hemoptysis is a condition in which the patient spits blood into the lungs. The minor was put on respiratory badistance but succumbed to respiratory distress on 13 July at the KEM hospital.

This is the fourth death due to leptospirosis in Mumbai this year. Three more died in June in the Kurla, Govandi and Malad areas. In the whole of Mumbai, 24 cases of leptospirosis have been registered so far this year.

Following the death of Singh, the BMC screened 574 homes, covering 1,926 people living near his home. Seven people with fever and vomiting due to diarrhea were referred for treatment. The Department of Insecticides claimed to have treated 17 rat terriers with rodenticides because rats are known to be common carriers of leptospirosis bacteria in the vicinity.

One official said, after heavy showers, special attention was paid to low areas. often witness floods. The BMC has distributed preventive medicine to 17,106 people living in slums in low-lying areas, the official said.

Meanwhile, waterborne diseases reached 519 cases of gastroenteritis in BMC hospitals and clinics. fortnight of July. In June, 779 cases were recorded.

Since June, 37 cases of dengue and 548 cases of malaria have been reported. With the rain also affecting the quality of drinking water, two cases of cholera were recorded by the BMC this month.

"We see a lot of cases of gastroenteritis, about two-three patients every day, dengue cases were more the last year …" said Dr. Shahid Barmare, general practitioner Kohinoor Hospital in Kurla. Barmare said that he had treated a resident Kurla who was suffering from both leptospirosis and dengue fever and that he had had to be hospitalized. "Her platelet count had gone down and she had a high grade fever with a headache, her liver function was also not normal, we treated her symptomatically for dengue fever and provided her with fever." Admitting an antibiotic for leptospirosis, it has been reestablished in seven days, "he added.

A doctor said that cases should increase in the coming days in flooded areas of water because the symptoms take a few days to surface after a bacterial infection. news from Mumbai, download Indian Express App