Over 11,000 patients reported in flood-affected areas of Jalandhar

More than 11,000 patients have been reported in flood and rainwater-affected areas of Jalandhar since August 26, during the recent monsoon season. These cases were recorded through health camps set up across 84 villages in the district.

A total of 11,206 patients sought treatment, with the majority suffering from skin problems (3,118 cases), followed by fevers (1,882), eye infections (1,067), gastroenteritis/diarrhoea (328) and 4,811 patients reporting other ailments including chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and blood pressure irregularities.

Interestingly, despite a high number of snakebite cases in Jalandhar overall, no snakebite incidents were reported in the flood-affected areas. Health teams conducted medical camps and door-to-door medical aid in the affected villages, with intensive screening for vector-borne diseases carried out by MPHWs and ASHA workers.

Most of the affected villages are in the Shahkot block, including Lohian, where 49 villages were screened; 22 of these were in Lohian alone. Regarding vector-borne diseases, 19 dengue cases have been confirmed in Jalandhar so far—11 in urban areas and 8 in rural—but none from flood-affected zones. A survey of 14,109 houses across the 84 villages found dengue larvae breeding in 340 locations, though none of the patient samples tested positive for dengue or malaria, despite the high number of fever cases.

Epidemiologist Dr Aditya Paul said, “Our teams have been diligently screening patients in flood-affected villages. Since no rivers or water bodies breached in Jalandhar, the damage was mainly from rainwater. Health camps were set up early as a precaution. Except for skin problems, gastroenteritis, and fever in some pockets, mostly routine monsoon-related infections have been reported.”