India has reported outbreaks of acute diarrheal disease, also known as stomach flu, surged to the highest on record in 2024. The latest data from the health ministry’s surveillance programme highlighted that India recorded over 1,000 outbreaks of acute diarrheal disease across the country as of December 22.
This is the highest level since the data was made publicly available in 2009, Bloomberg reported.
According to the Health Ministry, over 300 outbreaks of food poisoning were reported across the country, the highest since 2019. An outbreak is defined as an illness “clearly in excess of expected numbers”, according to the ministry.
It is noteworthy that stomach-related disorders are among the most common infectious illnesses in India. However, cause of these surges are still not known. Experts maintains that these cases can be linked to contaminated water or food sources.
According to the Bloomberg report, factors like climate change, rising social inequality and health-care services contribute in ways hard to measure, adding to the mounting public-health challenge.
An analysis last year by Bloomberg News and disease forecasting firm Airfinity found that 44 governments have reported the resurgence of at least one infectious disease over ten times worse than the pre-pandemic baseline.
According to doctors, antibiotic overuse is also leading to higher severity of cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that diarrhea is an infection caused by a range of bacterial and viral pathogens. The most common viral causes of diarrhea are rotavirus and norovirus. However, it can also be caused by bacterial pathogens like Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter.