Preliminary health data from the first 10 days of August reveals a sharp rise in viral infections, particularly Influenza-like Illness (ILI), across Hyderabad’s urban and peri-urban settlements. The data, compiled by the Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) from 12,575 patient visits to its 12 Primary Health Centres, shows that infectious diseases made up half of all consultations (6,323 cases).
Of these, 70% were viral illnesses resembling seasonal flu, while bacterial infections accounted for 19%, fungal infections 7%, parasitic infections 1%, and other infections 2%.
The HHF centres serve over 100 urban slum clusters in areas including Tolichowki, Rajendranagar, Kishan Bagh, Hasan Nagar, Kala Pather, Pahadi Shareef, Jalpally, Shaheen Nagar, and Errakunta.
Apart from infectious diseases, many patients reported body pain, headaches, gastrointestinal issues, fever with chills, and skin rashes — with headaches and body pain alone making up 36% of these non-infectious complaints.
“Most cases resolve within a week, but the severity of fever and pain is prompting people to seek hospital care, sometimes visiting multiple clinics despite the illness being self-limiting,”
— Dr Usaid Ahmed, CMO, HHF Shaheen Nagar Health Centre
Dengue fears have also been high — over 3,000 dengue tests were conducted last week, though most came back negative. Typical influenza cases involved high-grade fevers (102°F or higher, often worse at night), severe body aches, headaches, nausea, and occasional cough or cold.
HHF conducts annual fever surveillance during the monsoon to track trends and initiate preventive measures.
