Thursday, 16 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The major difference in the diurnal temperature in the plain areas of the State has started taking a toll on the health of the people. All the hospitals and the nursing homes in Dehradun are reporting 20 to 25 per cent increase in the number of the OPD patients. On Tuesday the meteorology department reported a maximum of 27 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature of nine degree Celsius was reported.
This changing season and high daily variation is getting reflected in the increased number of people affected by viral fever and other infections. There is a difference of more than 18 degrees in the minimum and maximum temperature these days. The minimum temperature in the state capital is still around eight to nine degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature has scaled up to 27-28 degrees these days. On February 13, the minimum temperature dropped to 5.4 degrees while the maximum temperature was 23.5 degrees Celsius.
The senior Physician Dr Pravin Panwar said that very high daily variation of temperature is affecting the health and disclosed that there is an increase of about 20 percent in the number of viral fever cases these days. The Physician said that people, especially elderly should wear woollen clothes during morning and evenings to avoid catching cold. “The children and the elderly are particularly more susceptible to catching cold in this transitional phase of the season. I am getting many patients who caught cold during their morning walk or exercise. It is recommended that after exercise one should be a little careful and avoid immediate contact with cold air,” he said.
The Physicians instruct that cold water and drinks should be avoided by the people during this time of the year and once infected with cold the people should immediately consult the doctor. Many people tend to switch on the fans during the day time which according to the doctors should be avoided.
Common cold is the most common disease among humans with an average adult getting two to three infections in a year. The prevalence of this disease is more in children and old people as their immunity is low. The symptoms of the disease are sore throat, running nose, sneezing and fever.
