MUMBAI: Come monsoons and the menace of mosquitos and along with it the spread of the diseases spread by this insect malaria and dengue is on the rise and the metro city is witnessing a surge recording the highest case detected in the state of Maharashtra. 

Mumbai city's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that cases of dengue and especially malaria are on the rise and according to its data in the first week of this month July, nearly 156 malaria cases have been detected from the city and suburb areas. 

BMC has also stated that the city has also recorded 91 cases of dengue, 474 cases related to gastroenteritis, 34 cases of H1N1, and 29 leptospirosis cases, this month. The city has already seen a significant number of dengue cases before the monsoon season, with 353 cases recorded in June alone, a nine-fold increase from last year.

According to the BMC, the number of patients registered in 2023 is higher, however, it claimed that the increase in cases registration is mainly because the registration centres across BMC wards have increased from 22 to 880. These registration centres also include civic-run hospitals, additional private laboratories, and private hospitals.

In this year from January to June, while the entire Maharashtra state reported 4,547 cases, Mumbai had the largest share at 1,829 cases, which again increased in July. Civic bodies around Mumbai like Thane reported 150, Kalyan 40, and Mira-Bhayander 18 malaria cases this year. 

The civic body said that it was doing everything on a war footing to curb the rise of such cases and was following the model used for Covid-19 patients to tackle these rain-borne diseases. The BMC has activated 24 war rooms to monitor and provide assistance to patients, and a house-to-house survey is being conducted for malaria detection. Diagnostic tests at BMC dispensaries have also been made free of charge.

According to Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer of BMC, the war rooms were getting details of dengue and malaria patients from all the wards in the city on a daily basis. She said that once the case is detected at the ward level the department gets the case file and other details. 

The experts at the war room then monitor the patients regularly on call and check if the patient needs any help and if they are taking regular medicines. Malaria treatment has to be taken for 14 days, and the teams remind the patient about it on a regular basis. Citizens are expected to boil water, keep their surrounding clean and dry and wear clean cloths during the monsoons which can breed diseases very fast.