Tuesday Brief

So yesterday India crossed the figure of 900,000 Covid 19 cases , and last 100,000 just came in cases in little over 3 days. So it will not be surprising that during this week India may cross the figure of One million  (1,000,000) cases. With this trend continuing  no idea the figure will reach where. Only solace is that recovery rate is good and death rate is low. As per experts India is still to reach peak in Covid cases, and they expect that will show downward trend after mid August 2020. Let hope so it happens, and keep our finger crossed.

Now coming to my other topic of the day : Friends you all are aware that we are now in monsoon season and this season brings its own problems, and one or the main problem during this season is rise in Water Borne diseases. The water borne diseases are Cholera, Dysentery, Typhoid, Gastroenteritis etc. Hence there is need to take extreme precautions about health, especially concerning water, during monsoon.

How we get water borne diseases– They occur when we consume contaminated water. And during monsoon, this is common as we have underground pipes carrying water and we do not know where there could have been possibility of water getting exposed and contaminated. As water borne diseases are contagious, so it may  spread from one person to another, unless care is taken.

Precautions–  We can take few precautions to avoid water borne diseases. The most important of all these precautions is to disinfect water at our end as we may not have much control over the source of water. The best way to purify the water is to boil it so that all micro organisms in it are killed. You may also choose to use iodine tinctures or tablets to disinfect water. A few other precautions that can be taken is to ensure that you do not drink any additional outside water, wash your hands thoroughky before eating, use properly cleaned and wiped vessels, wash all the vegetables properly before cooking. Dispose home waste responsibly, so that there is no chance of contamination, especially if you have diapers, sanitary napkins etc.

Try to eat home cooked foods and avoid food and drink outside as much as possible. Cover the food and water and do not leave them open lest any flies sit on it and spread disease. Eating some immune boosting foods, include some hot and healthy soups in your everyday diet. Also include some good gut bacterial probiotic foods like yogurt, with vitamin D fortified ones. This is because there will be less sunlight and you will not get enough vitamin D from sunlight. Dry fruits and green leafy vegetables are another good options to build immunity. We Indians always use lots of spices in our food and few of them like turmeric, asafoetida (hing) coriander, cinnamon, ginger etc are good for immunity.

Home remedies – while if you get severe symptoms which are persistent, one should consult doctor without fail. However few remedies can be tried when the symptoms are mild. For Cholera, lemon and ginger can be consumed as this is said to kill cholera causing bacteria. Also include onion and turmeric in your food daily as these two can help cholera at bay and also provide relief from symptoms. Home remedies for typhoid fever once diagnosed  include, increased fluid intake, using cold compresses to bring fever down, drinking ORS solution made of sugar & salt, include garlic in your diet and drinking basil and ginger concoction.

Please remember that home remedies are only basic treatments, it will not help in case of severe symptoms, at that time proper medical guidance is required.

Hope this information will be useful for all.

Awaiting your views/comments/feed backs.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

14^th July 2020