A rain spell Friday provided a sigh of relief to citizens as several weather-related diseases started to decline.
The number of patients suffering from seasonal flue and respiratory diseases has significantly decreased with the spell of rain, doctors at various public hospitals told Pakistan Today.
Some 25 percent patients approaching the emergency departments of various hospitals before rain were those who had problems related to respiration, flue, cold and cough. On Saturday, however, few patients visited emergency departments with cold-related diseases.
“The rain has brought respite against seasonal diseases like influenza. Many patients who were suffering due to dry cold will be in a much better condition after rain,” said Dr Sohail, a consultant at the Mayo Hospital. He said the number of patients visiting emergency department due to weather-related diseases was 10 to 15 which had jumped over 70 to 80 few days ago,” he added. According to Dr Sohail, the diseases of ear, nose and throat also vanish after a spell of rain as the suspended particles of dust in the air are dissolved.
Dr Mukhatar, a consultant at Jinnah Hospital, said dry cold was particularly bad for those who had asthma problem. He said the foggy weather increases the respiratory problems drastically but the rain has eliminated the fog and the sky is clear which can be regarded as a factor in decreasing the number of patients.
Dr Nasir, a pediatrician at Children Hospital, said the children were more prone to severe cold. However, rain had brought some relief for them, he added. “Infants and toddlers were particularly coming to hospital before rain. The cases of pneumonia had doubled than the normal days. However, rain has ended the dry spell of rain and the number of patients has also decreased,” he added.
Dr Abdul Basit, an emergency medical officer at Jinnah Hospital Lahore, told this scribe that when the temperature of body decreases, the immune system gets slow. He said the hot sun after the rain has increased the temperature of human body and it leads to the significant improvement in the immune system of the body. He added that bacteria, viruses and other micro-organisms need a specific temperature to grow and a slight decrease in the temperature causes their death.