Tips to Avoid Infection During This Rainy Season

The season of Baarish and Pakoras is just around the corner, and there has been a bit of drizzling every day or two lately. Do you know what these monsoons bring along? Is it the joy of pouring rain, birds chirping outdoors, or a pleasant breeze blowing through your window?

While the monsoon may bring all these things, it also brings serious infections and diseases that may affect your and your family’s health. 

This season is characterized by a warm and humid climate with rain. These factors are ideal for the growth of many bacteria, viruses, and disease-carrying vectors that cause monsoon illnesses. 

Are you aware of these diseases and what you can do to prevent them? 

If not, you should read the whole blog, where we will discuss the prevalent infections during the monsoon and some effective tips to prevent and avoid them.

So, stick with us till the end to know all about the topic in detail.

Commonly Prevalent Infections & Diseases During Monsoons

Monsoons give rise to many dangerous infections and diseases that may be waterborne, airborne, or vector-borne. Here are some prevalent infections and diseases of each type:

Water-borne Infections

Water-borne diseases generally arise from contaminated water sources during the monsoon season. The disease can be transmitted through consumption of contaminated water or physical contact. Here are the most common water-borne infections during monsoons:

• Cholera is an infection caused by the bacteria vibrio cholerae. It is usually spread through contaminated food or water. Symptoms may include vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, etc.

• Dysentery is an infection characterized by inflammation of the intestines. Other common symptoms might include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea with blood and mucus.

• Typhoid is a serious disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi that spreads through contaminated food and water. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms.

• Hepatitis A: Also called jaundice, is an infection that primarily affects the liver and is transmitted through contaminated food, water, or other infected people. Symptoms include yellowness of the eyes and skin, fatigue, appetite loss, pale stools, etc.

• Leptospirosis is an infection spread through contaminated soil or water that affects many mammals, including humans. The disease may occur through the consumption of infected food and water or physical contact with contaminated soil or water on open wounds.

• Giardia: This is caused by the parasite Giardia lamblia and spreads through untreated drinking water, stagnant pools, and other contaminated sources.

Vector-borne infections

Vector-borne infections refer to conditions transmitted by insects or parasites like mosquitoes, ticks, etc. Some common monsoon vector-borne infections include:

• Dengue is an infection spread by bites of the Aedes mosquito. Symptoms include low platelet count, high fever, nausea, skin rashes, and vomiting.

• Malaria is another mosquito-borne disease caused by the female Anopheles mosquito. Symptoms include fever, chills, abdominal pain, headache, and joint pain.

• Chikungunya is also spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, extreme joint pain, chills, and rashes.

• Lyme Disease: do the borrelia bacteria cause a parasitic tick-borne disease? Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, irregular heartbeat, facial paralysis, and arthritis.

• Zika: This is another infection spread by the Aedes mosquito. Its symptoms include headache, fever, muscle and joint pain, and eye redness.

Air-borne infections

• Common cold and fever are mild viral infections with symptoms like fever, cough, and cold. It is normal to contract these infections during monsoons and generally does not need medical attention.

• Influenza is a set of four similar viruses that cause seasonal epidemics of flu every monsoon and winter. Its symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, fever, and fatigue.

LEARN MORE: Most Common Illnesses During Monsoon and Their Diagnosis

7 Tips to Prevent and Avoid Infection During Monsoons

Now that we have read about all types of diseases and infections that monsoons bring along let’s have a look at some tips to avoid these infections:

Personal hygiene

Personal hygiene is of utmost importance for preventing infections during monsoons. Wash hands regularly, wear clean clothes, and bathe with antiseptic soap or body wash. 

When outdoors, use hand sanitizer before eating anything. Avoid touching your face or eyes too much.

Avoid junk food

Eating junk food from street hawkers and restaurants can be dangerous during monsoon season as it may get contaminated. Prefer eating fresh, homemade food; if you have to eat outside, ensure that the food and preparation are hygienic and fresh to avoid infections.

Drink boiled water

Sometimes, drinking water can become contaminated. The safest option is to boil the water and then cool it off before drinking to eliminate any bacteria or other microbes that may be present.

Avoid contact with infected people.

An important part of prevention is maintaining distance from people with contagious infections and wearing face masks to avoid getting infected. Some diseases can spread fast from one person to another, and avoiding contact is the best way to stop them.

Get adequate sleep

A good sleep schedule is important to keep your body healthy. Quality sleep helps rejuvenate the body’s functions and processes. It also helps strengthen the immune system, which is crucial to avoid and fight infections during the monsoon season.

Wash fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables purchased from the market may carry bacteria or viruses. Before consuming any fruits or vegetables, make sure to properly wash them and even sanitize them if necessary to remove any risk of contamination. 

Prevent water stagnation

Stagnant water is the perfect breeding ground for some bacteria, mosquitoes, and disease-carrying vectors. Look at your surroundings and eliminate any empty or water-filled puddles, buckets, or containers where water might stagnate. This is important to prevent mosquitoes from breeding around your habitat and increase the risk of infection.

When to Seek Medical Help?

Although most people experience mild to moderate viral infections like the common cold, fever, or flu, which do not need much medical help and go away on their own, still, if you are experiencing serious symptoms or have been in recent contact with mosquitoes or other vectors, then you should seek medical help. Some serious symptoms and reasons for medical help are as follows:

• Recent contact with mosquitoes or ticks
• High-grade fever for a few days
• Vomiting
• Severe abdominal pain
• Diarrhea with blood and mucus
• Acute muscle and joint pain

If you experience any of these symptoms, getting health checkups and medical assistance is strongly advised.

EXPLORE: Reasons why you Should Go for Health Checkups During Monsoon

The Bottom Line

Monsoon is the season of jolly rain and pleasant climate, but it also brings along some serious illnesses, which can mess up your health and immunity. Therefore, it is important to have proper knowledge of these diseases and ways to prevent getting infected. 

Prevention includes maintaining personal hygiene, avoiding junk food, getting adequate sleep, and taking other measures to help prevent infections. 

Along with these tips, getting regular health checkups is also important. Have you had your monsoon health screening yet?

If not, Book a Monsoon Health checkup package at Redcliffe Labs—“Healthy India ki Trusted Lab” today! We offer an on-time guarantee and 100% report correctness.