Emergencies up after viral outbreak

Vadodara: Amid a wave of various infections, state-wide GVK-EMRI108 medical emergency service saw an increase of over 10 per cent in cases of fever and respiratory emergencies during 2015.
The 108 emergency service responded to 1,652 fever cases and 3,260 cases of respiratory emergencies in 2015.
Reeling under fear of swine flu and dengue, patients from the city and the surrounding areas preferred to call 108 than travelling to the hospital on their own, officials said.
"Vadodara dealt with swine flu during the first half of the year, which was followed by an upsurge in dengue cases after August. The number of malaria cases decreased compared to last year. The fatalities due to swine flu and the few deaths reported due to dengue had scared the people at large. As a result, a majority of patients wanted to be with specifically trained personnel even while going to the hospital, rather than risking going themselves," said a GVK-EMRI official.
The 108 call centre also saw a surge of 30 per cent in calls from diabetic patients and while 1,680 called to report seizures, reporting a jump of 24 per cent.
City-based physician Dr Jayant Acharya, "The rise in cases can be directly attributed to the viral outbreak. People with a pre-existing ailment such as diabetes are more susceptible to these infections. Also, seizures are common among patients with high-grade fever due to viral infections."
"Many patients would seek treatment days after actually falling ill, making them unfit to travel on their own. Therefore many would need specialised critical care to reach a health facility," he added.
Vadodara recorded a nine per cent rise in the average number of emergency calls in a month, from 4,000 in 2014 to 4,400 in 2015. October registered the highest number of calls with 5,200 cases.
• Fights and assault cases remained one of the emergencies, showing a 17% increase.
• Paediatric emergencies including accidents involving children below 12 years decline by 10%.
• 12% decline in emergencies due to animal bites.
• Industrial medical emergencies down by 18% as compared to 2014.