Rising temperatures: Cases of heatstroke, gastroenteritis spike

Meteorologist says temperature to rise to 43 degree Celsius in the coming week.

ISLAMABAD: As the mercury level rises in the federal capital, the number cases of heatstroke and gastroenteritis reported at the city’s hospitals have also hiked.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PMD’s Chief Meteorologist Dr Ghulam Rasul said it is expected that next week the mercury will rise to 43 degree Celsius in the capital.

“However, this summer the twin cities will keep receiving rain with a five to seven-day break,” he said.

He added that dust storms are also likely to accompany the summer which will further help bring down the temperature.

The influx of patients suffering from various heat-related illnesses and gastroenteritis on the other hand has significantly increased in the outpatients and emergency departments of the city’s public hospitals.



According to Dr Tanveer Malik, spokesman for Polyclinic hospital, 60-80 patients visit the hospital with complaints of gastroenteritis or heatstroke everyday. They mostly complain of sever stomachache, vomiting, nausea, headache, diarrhea and irritation in the eyes.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) is receiving more than 80 to 100 patients everyday, a gastroenterologist, who wished not to be named, said. “Most of the patients are from the outskirts of the capital and belong to poor families,” he said.

He said every year in the summer, the outpatient and emergency departments remain flooded with patients but no awareness campaign is being run by the government to educate people on how they can prevent such illnesses.

“Everywhere one can find food vendors selling substandard food and no one keeps a check on them,” he deplored, explaining that these outlets lack proper cooling systems to store food, do not use clean water for washing dishes and keep the food under the open sky which automatically destroys its quality.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2015.