Driven by the swine flu fear, Mumbaikars are reporting early even for seasonal flu, malaria and other diseases that usually peak in monsoon, leading to record collection of samples for confirmatory tests — for malaria in particular — at BMC-run hospitals in August.

BMC records show that in August, smears of about 74,665 persons were taken of which 5,019 tested positive for malaria. Last year, in August, 58,746 smears were collected of which 4,678 tested positive. “The smear positive rate has gone down from 7.96 per cent of total samples collected last year to 6.7 per cent this year,” said Dr K Harboli who heads BMC’s malaria surveillance programme.

However, in absolute terms the number of malaria cases has increased. “Compared to last year, this year there is a marginal increase in malaria cases in Mumbai and Thane,” said Dr S V Ranade, assistant director, state health services.

“At the swine flu outpatient department wards, people are also screened for malaria if suspected clinically. This helps in early detection and timely treatment,” added Dr Harboli.

Even private hospitals and clinics saw an extra rush of patients in August. “People rushed for tests when swine flu epidemic was active, that is the first week of August. Apart from people coming in with diseases like fever, diarrhoea and cough routinely seen at this time of the year, there is an additional crowd of 15 to 20 per cent,” said Dr Jayesh Lele, secretary, Indian Medical Association.

He added, “Because of swine flu fear, people in their first and second day of fever are ready to go in for blood and Complete Blood Count (CBC) test. Doctors repeatedly tell patients to check for malaria early but this year patients themselves are reporting early.”