The south-west monsoon arrived promptly in Kerala last week, prompting people of the Indian state to reach out for umbrellas and warm clothes, but so has a range of fevers, that have led to a massive rush to hospitals across all 14 districts.
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation. It can also be described as seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea.
Official figures have put the number of fever-affected people at 15,990 and there were fresh cases of 90 people afflicted by dengue fever on Thursday.
Dengue claimed six lives in the state on Thursday, all of them in Kottayam district. As many as a third of the newly reported dengue cases are from Thiruvananthapuram district.
The death count extended by one more on Friday, when an 11-year-old girl, Aditya from Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram district, succumbed to dengue fever.
Among all the fever cases, what is particularly bothering the medical authorities are the sustained increase in the numbers of those afflicted by dengue, and small but significant numbers of those who have leptospirosis, Hepatitis A and H1N1. The spread of diseases has come at an inopportune time, considering that schools in the state have reopened this week after summer vacations, and the probability is high that many communicable diseases will be spread through schools.
