The state has been beleaguered by intense flooding amidst heavy monsoon rainfall. Mumbai, which neighbours Thane, has witnessed its worst flooding in more than a decade. Across the state, the floods have forced the evacuation of more than 75,000 people. As of August 6th, 182 people have been killed whilst alerts have been issued for multiple districts.
Flooding carries the potential for the rapid spread of water-borne infectious diseases, as was witnessed during the flooding in Kerala last night. Outbreaks of acute diarrhoeal disease, dengue fever, and leptospirosis were reported in the aftermath of the disaster, necessitating the dispatch of public health teams and reserves of emergency medicines.
To counter the spread of infectious disease amidst the flooding, authorities in Thane have been dispensing antibiotic injections to citizens as well as 14.6 lakh tablets of doxycycline, both by going door-to-door and through establishing medical camps. Some report not being reached with medicines, however, suggesting the need to scale up the provision.
It is of vital importance to public health that authorities take action to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases during floods. Monsoon season is already a prime time for vector-borne diseases to spread due to the proliferation of mosquito populations who have found new breeding grounds. Controlling mosquito populations has been an action taken in states such as Delhi in advance of monsoon season, whilst hospitals were told to ready themselves for an influx of cases of vector-borne diseases when the rains arrived by the Union Health Ministry.
Maharashtra is not the only state to be affected by intense flooding during the monsoon. States including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Rajasthan, as well as the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, have also been hit by flooding. Across Assam, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala, more than 655,000 people have been displaced into relief camps.
Vigilance against water-borne diseases and other communicable conditions in these camps is of great importance, given the opportunity for infections to rapidly spread between densely packed people. The control of vector populations, provision of treatments in a timely manner, and close monitoring of disease cases will be needed to ensure that preventable deaths from infectious diseases do not add to the already sizeable death toll from the floods.