‘Covid has made people more aware about diseases’

Dr John Abraham

Swagata Hazra

Parvathy Gokul

Arya Thomas

Rains have sparked fears of an annual spike in water-borne and vector-borne diseases such as dengue, dengue shock syndrome and gastroenteritis. How capable is the city’s public healthcare system to prevent a big outbreak? DH interacts with a cross-section of Bengalureans to get their views.

Swagata Hazra, a BDS student, has this to say: “Water serves as a favourable route of transmission for disease-causing pathogens. This happens due to food and water contamination, faecal-oral transmission and heavy unhygienic setback.”

When it rains, heavy waterlogging in the city triggers all the favourable conditions for the well-known dengue virus, rotavirus, harmful E Coli, and other protozoan parasites, she explains.

Arya Thomas, an Audit Associate notes, “With the number of active Covid-19 cases and the number of hospitalisations going down, I feel that hospitals now have the capacity to house other patients. I believe that we definitely have a robust healthcare system that’s capable of handling a dengue outbreak.”

“However,” she adds, “we should focus on nipping dengue in the bud with proper care and preventive measures. The onus is on the citizens as well as the civic bodies to prevent the spread of such diseases.”

Parvathy Gokul, a resident of Whitefield, contends: “I can’t find much difference in the healthcare system post-pandemic. Waterlogging is still prevalent, which is one of the major causes for the water-borne as well as vector-borne diseases.”

According to her, the only change post-Covid is the concern of the people. “People are much aware about the diseases and the mask helps to prevent spread of the contaminants to an extent,” she elaborates.

Parvathy, who is the mother of a three-year-old, feels the biggest fear is about the common flu. “When there is a kid in our house, we need to take more precaution to prevent the disease coming inside.”

Last year, Bengaluru witnessed a cholera outbreak. Dr John Abraham from the Department of Family Medicine / Geriatrics at St John’s Medical College elaborates, “There were 17 reported cases of cholera that was evaluated as an isolated incident and was managed effectively by the healthcare system. This was achieved by the identification of challenges and effective mobilisation of resources to address these challenges.”

Modern Bengaluru, he says, has least risk of cholera due to access to safe water, improved sanitation, refined public awareness regarding cleanliness, hygienic food habits and hand-washing that have become a part of life culture after the pandemic.

On dengue, he informs: “The incidence of dengue has seen an upsurge in the past decade due to enormous environmental and genetic factors. An effective treatment or a proper vaccine has not been introduced for the disease, making it a public health challenge.”