Sudden rise in gastro cases witnessed in Lahore

With rise in temperature and the poor eating habits, sudden rise in the number of gastroenteritis patients has been witnessed in the provincial metropolis. Hundreds of patients with complaints in abdominal were reported in different city hospitals in a single day on Saturday.
Almost all the government hospitals in the provincial metropolis are receiving an average of 100 to 150 patients per day, including children, males and females, sources said. The doctors are attributing the cause of illness of gastro patients to contaminated water, soft drinks and consumption of unhygienic food. They advised people not to take food from bazaar and prefer quality food in their homes.
Sources in the health department said that during Eid holidays, hundreds of gastro patients were admitted and they were discharged after extending medical facilities.
The victims mostly suffer from diarrhea, abdominal cramps and vomiting. The sources claimed that the Punjab health department has already asked heads of all teaching, district headquarters and tehsil headquarters hospitals to keep a good stock of oral dehydration salts (ORS) and other medicines to treat gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Health professionals told Business Recorder that the people need to take healthy diet and clean drinking water to save them from health issue.
Common symptoms of the disease were nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, fever, abdominal cramps and audible rumbling of stomach. Family physician Capt Niaz(retd), who is former medical superintendent Lahore General Hospital, said gastroenteritis had been turned into an epidemic, as dozens of patients of gastroenteritis were visiting almost every public sector hospitals apart from private clinics.
He emphasised washing hands and mouth thoroughly, especially before and after eating and in the areas with poor sanitation, only bottled or boiled water should be used for drinking.
Dr Niaz also said that the people should exercise caution in storing food that spoils easily such as meat, salads and dairy products. He added that repeated freezing and defreezing of food resulted in growth of bacteria and viruses in it.
About gastroenteritis, he said it is an epidemic, which requires prevention, awareness and hygienic living conditions. "Germs which cause gastro get into body through mouth and it usually takes some days for symptoms to appear," he said.
According to him, food could become contaminated by people suffering from gastro, if they did not wash their hands properly and before handling food. Bacteria which could cause gastro were often present in raw foods such as meats, poultry and eggs. Only proper cooking would kill these bacteria.
Dr Niaz advised the food handlers, especially the housewives and chefs at city hotels and restaurants, not to handle raw and cooked foods with the same implements (tongs, knives, cutting boards), unless they had been thoroughly washed.