Tamil Nadu - Chennai

How to stay cool in the face of summer

City Bureau

Chicken pox, heat stroke, rashes, boils ... the list of ailments is not complete

Chennai : Summer has come calling once again and with the sun beating down relentlessly upon the city and its surroundings, residents are busy figuring out ways to stay healthy.

They have to contend with not just the heat and discomfort it causes but also heat-related conditions such as chicken pox and heat stroke. Minor irritations such as prickly heat, rashes, itching, boils are common in summer, but can also be easily avoided by maintaining a good personal hygiene.

The more worrisome summer disease is chicken pox, a viral infection that spreads through air. In an infected person the virus multiplies and travels in the blood and to the lungs. And then when the patient coughs or sneezes, it is transmitted through air, infecting others in the vicinity. The characteristic pustules are also highly contagious when they break. Bad personal hygiene and crowded communal habits result in more viral infections, says A. M. Jayaraaman, Professor of Dermatology, Stanley Medical College.

Routine but high incidence

Over the past decade the Communicable Diseases Hospital in Tondiarpet has regularly recorded hundreds of cases of chicken pox. However, it has never manifested in epidemic form, causing extreme morbidity or deaths in the city, according to P. Kuganantham, Health Officer, Chennai Corporation.

Schools regularly make provisions for children with chicken pox to write their board examinations separately. This year too, the scene has been the same.

Several cases of chicken pox have been reported from within Chennai and its suburbs, Ambattur and Avadi, Thirumullaivoyal, Pattabiram and Tambaram, affecting mainly school children, particularly those writing board examinations.

Children who develop chicken pox suffer from fever and body pain. As food intake is restricted, they also face debility during the illness. Anti-viral drugs administered within 72 hours prevent the formation of scars. However, doctors assure that the course of the disease can be shortened with drugs. The Government has rushed appropriate drugs to its primary, secondary and tertiary care institutions to provide relief to patients, Health Secretary V. K. Subburaj says. Now protective vaccines are also available in the market.

With an increasing awareness, parents are questioning the wisdom of putting younger children through school during the heat of April in the name of examinations.

"The XII board examinations begin on March 1. Students appear for the examination during the morning hours. Schools that are centres for the XII examinations postpone the examination date for the younger children to April. By then summer is intense and children suffer," says Seetha Ramanathan, mathematics teacher at Marthoma Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Sri Ayappa Nagar near Virugambakkam.

The onset of summer also means additional difficulties in commuting for residents of suburbs. Members of residents' organisations pointed out that commuting to the city was an ordeal for those who have to wait at bus stops without shelters or shade. This causes dehydration and fatigue, they say.

Heat stroke

A common complaint in summer is dehydration. By increasing fluid intake, heat strokes can be averted, say doctors. Instances of heat stroke are lower in Chennai but the city witnessed an epidemic in 1998 when deaths were recorded by government and private hospitals. A heat stroke occurs during peak summer when the temperature is high. Usually, the elderly are more affected, and have to be very careful, says V. K. Rajamani, Professor of Medicine, Madras Medical College.

How it occurs

The hypothalamus in the brain maintains the body temperature by controlling sweating.

Persons who cannot sweat much, the elderly, and those with skin problems are at high risk for heat strokes.

Mrs. Seetha's 65-year-old mother died of a heat stroke in 1998.

"It was an experience that touched the lives of people close to us. Even today my Principal holds my hand every summer and recalls how my mother's experience had taught her to take care of herself," she says.

Her diabetic mother succumbed to a heat stroke after a short, noontime walk in T. Nagar.

"People lose electrolytes in their body because of sweating. Drinking plain water does not replace the electrolytes. As the body temperature increases, more sweating occurs'', says Dr. Jayaraaman. He adds, ``the sweat gland at one point of time may not be able to sweat more because of dehydration and this causes brain damage. This is when they collapse," says Dr. Jayaraaman.

(With inputs from Ramya Kannan, R. Sujatha, K. Lakshmi and J. Malarvizhi)

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