As Gandhi hospital is handling Covid patients, Fever and Osmania hospitals are expected to see heavy patient rush
Telangana’s Health Department : As the rainy season is fast approaching, weather conditions in the coming weeks are bound to change, which may lead to a rise in the seasonal ailments .The danger of seasonal ailments and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is set to put immense pressure on the State’s public healthcare system.
As people hardly came out of their homes during the lockdown, most of the people did not have the need to visit the hospitals. The seasonal ailments, especially water-borne ailments during the peak summer also were under control.
However, with exemptions introduced in the lockdown and the changing season has the potential to not only cause an increase in the Covid-19 infections but also lead to a spike in the seasonal ailments.
Every year, the general public and the healthcare system have to deal with two cycles of swine flu, during monsoons and winter.
This year too, people here need to be wary of the annual seasonal flu, apart from keeping an eye on vector-borne ailments such as malaria, typhoid, dengue, cholera and diarrhoea.
Dengue and malaria are the most common seasonal ailments that seek a spike every year in Hyderabad. Viral fevers also constitute a large chunk of the seasonal ailments and this year too they are expected to impact a majority in Hyderabad
“We are already in the process of setting up a monsoon action plan to handle seasonal ailments. In the coming days, the action plan will be rolled out in the State capital. The general public, however, need to be very cautious and take all precautions,” says District Medical and Health Officer (DH&HO) Dr J Venkati.
Senior doctors pointed out that with Gandhi Hospital almost full to its capacity with coronavirus cases, other non-Covid hospitals like Fever Hospital and Osmania General Hospital (OGH) will witness a massive load from non-Covid patients in the coming months.
“So far, we have been able to handle the additional pressure of Gandhi Hospital’s elective cases who were shifted to Osmania General Hospital. The footfall of patients in outpatient wings have just started to rise, but so far we have been able to manage the situation,” maintains OGH Superintendent Dr B Nagender.
