Monsoon triggers spike in viral infections across Hyderabad

Preliminary health data from the first 10 days of August, during which monsoon activity has been steady in Hyderabad, shows a surge in viral infections, particularly Influenza-like Illness (ILI), in several urban and peri-urban settlements.

The findings, based on 12,575 patient visits to 12 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) run by the city-based healthcare NGO Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), indicates that infectious diseases accounted for half of all consultations, 6,323 cases in total. Of these, 70% were viral infections resembling seasonal flu or ILI. The remainder comprised bacterial infections (19%), fungal infections (7%), parasitic infections (1%), and other infections (2%).

The HHF PHCs are located in Tolichowki, Rajendranagar, Kishan Bagh, Hasan Nagar, Kala Pather, Pahadi Shareef, Jalpally, Shaheen Nagar and Errakunta, serving a catchment of over 100 urban slum clusters. In addition to infectious diseases, a significant number of patients presented with primary health complaints such as body pain, headaches, gastrointestinal discomfort, fever with chills, and skin rashes. Body pain and headache alone accounted for over one-third (36%) of this category, according to the data.

“Most cases are self-limiting within seven days. However, due to the intensity of fever and body pain, many patients are seeking hospital admission even without complications, moving from one clinic to another under the impression that treatment is not effective,” said Dr Usaid Ahmed, Chief Medical Officer at HHF’s Shaheen Nagar Health Centre.

Data from diagnostic centres accessed by HHF show that over 3,000 dengue test samples were processed in the past week, with the majority returning negative results. In most patients with influenza, doctors observed high-grade fever of 102°F or more, often with a night-time rise, accompanied by severe body aches, headaches, nausea, and sometimes cough and cold, which could be intermittent or absent.

HHF founder Mujtaba Hasan Askari said the organisation conducts fever surveillance across its PHCs at this time of year to monitor disease patterns and take preventive, and proactive action.