Another year, another monsoon and Kerala risks falling into the grip of waterborne diseases and bacterial infections. Health authorities have issued an alert for shigellosis, an intestinal bacterial infection; typhoid and rat fever being reported from various parts of the state. A four-year-old girl in Kozhikode died from shigellosis while hundreds are undergoing treatment in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.
“Shigellosis was first reported in Pathanamthitta and then Alappuzha. A child died in Kozhikode. In Wayanad, 25 students have been admitted to the hospital at the Sultan Bathery taluk headquarters. They are stable,” health minister K. Muraleedharan told INDIA TODAY.
“A medical team has been sent from Calicut Medical College to Wayanad. Things are under control,” said the minister.
According to Muraleedharan, high-level surveillance has been ordered in the affected areas, and local self-government bodies and the district administration directed to ensure hygienic water supply and clean school premises.
Kerala has a robust public healthcare system with deep penetration till the grassroots, but the disease load from monsoon downpours takes a toll every year. According to Directorate of Health Services data, leptospirosis infected 22,674 people and killed 1,266 between 2016 and 2025. Hepatitis B caused 59 deaths, dengue 219 deaths, West Nile fever 10 deaths and shigellosis 9 deaths during the period.
Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan urged the V.D. Satheesan government to quicken relief. “Mostly the poor and marginalised are infected with diseases during the monsoon season. They should be given prompt relief,” Vijayan said in a conversation with INDIA TODAY.
Public health expert Dr B. Ikbal said more efforts were needed to safeguard people from waterborne diseases during monsoon. “Every year, hundreds of individuals—and mostly the young—die during monsoon due to bacterial infections and waterborne diseases. We need to design a health charter and make proactive preparations before monsoon. Social hygiene coupled with personal hygiene can avoid casualties,” Ikbal noted.
Subscribe to India Today Magazine
– Ends
