Mumbai’s jaundice cases fall 84%, gastro 68%, thanks to cleaner water & hands

MUMBAI: The city has registered an 84% plunge in jaundice cases and a 68% fall in cases of gastroenteritis in this Covid-hit year, the BMC’s public health department has said.

While civic officials said ‘Covid etiquette’, which includes frequent washing of hands, was one of the reasons, they believe the improved quality of drinking water supplied by them is the major cause for the drastic fall in the numbers as both are water-borne diseases.“People have been washing hands regularly, not eating food in the open, and drinking clean water,’’ a civic press release said.
Better waste mgmt helped curb diseases, says expert
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “When we did a review of water-borne diseases last week, we realized there has been a drastic, but welcome, drop in incidence.’’ He said frequent washing of hands or use of sanitisers had cut down transmission of viruses/bacteria.
The BMC provided monthwise data for six years to underline its “improved drinking water quality-lower diseases” theory. While April saw 100 gastro cases, they dropped to double digits between May and September. But there was an increase in October (102) and November (127).
Gastro cases have been dropping steadily over the years—from 10,257 in 2015 to 2,316 in 2020 so far. In 2019, BMC recorded 7,247 cases.
The incidence of jaundice, caused by viruses Hepatitis A and E, has been less than 20 since April. While 245 cases were reported between January and November this year, cases for the corresponding months in 2015 were 1,075; 1,425 in 2016; 1,105 in 2017; 1,074 in 2018; 1,494 in 2019.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr Om Shrivastava, a member of the state Covid-19 taskforce, said the better waste management had prevented breeding of micro-organisms. “This led to a drop in cholera, diarrhoea and jaundice cases,’’ he said.