Spurt in sunstroke cases in Telangana; February and March numbers break two-year record

Hyderabad: Even as the mercury is hovering around 40 degree Celsius in the state, 40 sunstroke cases (23 cases in March and 17 in February) have already been recorded as per records of Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI).

While health experts have already sounded an alert on the possibility of a spurt in heatstroke cases, temperatures are soaring in the state with three districts — Adilabad (42.8), Mahabubnagar (40.5) and Medak (40.3) — crossing the 40 degree mark on Saturday.

The cases recorded by EMRI were of emergencies, which were attended by 108 ambulances and these account for 0.05 per cent of all emergencies attended in a month.

In fact, the 17 sunstroke emergencies attended in February were higher compared to the two previous years.

Also, this year the sunstroke cases in February and March have surpassed the cases recorded in the same period in the last two years. While healthcare experts point out to the possibility of more people moving about in the sun this year as compared to the peak pandemic time in the previous year, weather experts say that the high temperatures in the north have a role too.

“While last year most of the winds were easterly, this year the winds are north easterly. The temperature in the north is already high and that’s why we are having dry winds coming towards Telangana. As a result, there is one or two degree higher temperature this year. We are not yet having a heat wave,” said K Nagaratna, head, India Meteorological Department, Telangana.

For the heat wave condition, the maximum temperature should be over 40 degree Celsius and the deviation from the normal temperature should be over 4.5 to 6.4 degrees.

Confirming early onset of cases, Dr G Srinivasa Rao, director, public health, said, “We are already seeing cases from across the state. We have already issued a heat wave warning and people need to be extremely careful and avoid going out between 12 noon and 3 pm.”