In Mumbai, absence of street meals stalls and numerous maintaining away from street meals throughout lockdown has resulted in a drastic decline in reported instances of monsoon ailments and water-borne illnesses linked with the stomach and liver, like gastroenteritis and hepatitis.
According to BMC information, the instances of Gastro and Hepatitis ‘A’ & ‘E’ have declined by 68.04% and 83.60% respectively as compared to information of 2019.
Every year throughout the monsoon, hospitals in the city witnessed a spike in the quantity of sufferers coming in with stomach flu or gastroenteritis and hepatitis. With roadside meals stalls prohibited throughout the lockdown and fewer people today venturing out of their houses fearing Covid-19 infection, there has been a steep decline in instances of these ailments.
Last year amongst January and November 7247 instances of Gastro and 1494 instances of Hepatitis A and E have been reported. Whereas this year throughout the similar period 2316 instances of Gastro and 245 instances of Hepatitis A and E have been reported.
In November this year, only 17 instances of Hepatitis A and E have been reported, though 73 instances have been reported in November 2019. Similarly, 127 instances of Gastrointestinal illnesses have been reported in November this year, whereas 535 instances have been reported in November 2019
Gastroenteritis and hepatitis A or E are triggered by contaminated water or meals. Symptoms take 3 to six weeks to show.
“This year, due to pandemic induced lockdown, we had expected fewer cases of water-borne diseases or monsoon related ailment as we commonly called it. But the decline in the number of cases reported between January to November has been much higher than we expected. Roadside food stalls are the primary source of infection for contraction such diseases,” said an official from BMC’s Public health department.
Doctors said hepatitis A and E can also spread due to improper hygiene, especially if uncooked food — like fruits and vegetables — are washed with contaminated water. The official added, “With everybody taking additional precautions to curb the spread of Covid-19, the threat of contaminated water has also diminished. Since the pandemic hit the city, people today have been drinking boiled water and washing their hands often, washing fruits and vegetables completely. This also became a element that brought down the instances of monsoon connected infections drastically.”
The civic officials pointed out that the quantity of instances of water-borne illnesses is declining each and every year because 2015. Officials have attributed this to high quality water supplied across the city by the Mumbai civic physique.