LAHORE: Continued augment in the temperature has been causing a rise in the arrival of gastroenteritis patients in Lahore city hospitals including Ganga Ram, Services, Jinnah and Mayo hospital.
Rising temperature is a warning for a major outburst of gastroenteritis suffering patients, according to the health experts.
Farhan Gohar of Services Hospital says, “The chief reason behind this was the consumption of substandard eatables. Such products, he says, are openly sold across roadside eateries”.
Gohar says, “People must desist from frequenting such places, especially when buying samosas and pakoras.”
According to Gohar, the major reason behind the rising number of patients suffering from gastroenteritis is the consumption of unfit eatables.
Gohar suggests everyone should lessen and avoid the use of substandard eateries and also start taking minimal precautions. Lahore can avoid the predicted gastro outburst if the people stop drinking substandard eatables and contaminated water. These are the reasons why hospitals have to deal with thousands of heat affected and gastro related patients every single year in Pakistan especially in Lahore.
Health Department Spokesperson Ikhlaq Ali Khan says lack of public awareness is the chief reason behind why the people have to grapple with an annual epidemic-like situation. He says the provincial government has taken steps to ensure a city-wide gastro outbreak is avoided. Khan says public awareness regarding the need to consume clean drinking water and quality eatables needs to be raised. He says the need for this becomes particularly pressing when the weather starts getting warmer. Khan says it is particularly conducive to bacteria growth.
He says the Health Department runs awareness campaigns every year to raise awareness on how seasonal infections can be avoided. However, Khan acknowledges, a lot more ought to be done on the front to obtain desired results. He says the department has already circulated an alert across all hospitals on seasonal diseases. Khan says all medicines needed to treat such cases are available across public health facilities.
