Mumbai: Spurt in dengue and leptospirosis cases in past fortnight

MUMBAI: There has been a spurt in cases of dengue and leptospirosis over the past fortnight. Three wards have seen most cases of leptospirosis, while confirmed dengue cases have been reported from all over the city.

Wards E (Byculla, Mazgaon), F north (Dharavi, Matunga) and K east (Andheri, Jogeshwari East) reported most leptospirosis cases, BMC said. Twenty-seven cases of leptospirosis were reported in the last 15 days. In July, there has been one death due to the bacterial disease that one can contract by wading through dirty water. Officials said the cases were most likely contained due to distribution of nearly 1.40 lakh capsules of doxycycline. BMC carried out three rounds of house-to-house surveys covering 44.80 lakh homes. Till August 15, there were 61 confirmed cases of dengue, a jump from 28 seen in all of July.

Although dengue cases are less than the incidence prior to Covid, the mosquito-borne viral infection is more prevalent this year compared to 2020. A total of 129 cases were recorded in 2020, while 138 were reported this year. In 2019, there were 920 confirmed cases of dengue and three deaths.

City ICUs are sporadically treating cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) arising from complications of dengue and leptospirosis. Intensivist Dr Rahul Sawalia, who consults with SevenHills Hospital, said they have treated at least seven cases of ARDS caused by dengue and leptospirosis.

Nearly 400 cases of malaria have also been reported so far in August. Around 160 cases of gastroenteritis and eight cases of H1N1 influenza were detected in the first two weeks of August.