Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku is seeing a rise in the flow of patients in the past week, with most suffering from gastro-related problems. But doctors warn there will also be a massive increase in cases of jaundice if garbage is not removed from the streets.
Jaundice has been controlled in the recent past with records at the hospital showing 24 casualties in 2063, seven in 2064 and just two in 2065, however these figures are expected to rise if the garbage is not disposed of. “Authorities should immediately look after garbage management to control the spread of disease, especially jaundice,” says director of Sukraraj hospital Dr Saroj Prasad Rajendra.
Kanti Children´s Hospital is also seeing a rise in the cases of jaundice. While it had seven in-patients with jaundice in Baisakh, it has already discharged 15 in the first 12 days of Jestha.
“These are just the cases of in-patients, but there are numerous OPD (Outpatient Department) cases coming daily. The OPD cases are also increasing recently but we don´t keep OPD records,” says Bindu Shrestha of the Medical Records Department at Kanti.
Kanti´s records do not show the recent dramatic increase in diarrhea cases, with 70 cases in 18 days of Jestha compared with 146 in Baisakh, but Sukraraj has seen a massive increase in gastro cases.
“There used to be six to seven gastro patients daily, but now it has gone up to 10 to 15 in the past few days,” reveals director of Sukraraj Dr Rajendra.
She, however, feels there is nothing unusual about these figures but warns there will be a further increase in the cases of waterborne diseases in coming days.
“It will peak during Ashadh and Shrawan (mid-June to mid-August), and usually continues through September,” Dr Rajendra adds.
Records at Sukraraj hospital indicate there have been 137 cases of gastroenteritis, six cases of typhoid and six cases of jaundice in the first 15 days of Jestha.
The numbers may appear small, but these are only serious cases which have been referred to the hospital. There are countless more which include those recovering at home taking medications after visiting private or government hospitals, and even those who have not received any medical consultation.
Medics say waterborne diseases go up during the monsoon season mainly due to seepage of contaminated water into the leaking water supply pipeline. “It is also due to consumption of contaminated food and accumulation of garbage,” Dr Bishwaraj Khanal at the Disease Control Section says.
Doctors advise not to eat food from open vendors, drink only boiled or chlorine-treated water, and to keep your personal surroundings clean to escape the clutches of the diseases. Sadly, the common people remain helpless owing to governmental apathy to improve sanitation.
premdhakal@myrepublica.com
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