Trend and seasonality of infectious diseases – An overview from a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Background: Most of the developing countries still suffer from a high burden of communicable diseases. The paucity of proper data about the current trends and seasonal variations of different infectious diseases (IDs) further prevents the policy makers from devising an effective, preventive, and curative response. Hospital ID wards are a useful source of surveillance data that can indicate changing health-care requirements. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of inpatient hospital database of past 5 years (January 2014–December 2018) was done to identify the pattern and trend of different IDs including seasonal variations. Results: Among 127,762 admissions during 2014–2018, diarrheal diseases (87%) were most common, followed by dengue (6.6%), chicken pox (2.4%), measles (1.6%), and diphtheria (1.2%). Measles and chicken pox cases had shown peak during February–May months, whereas dengue in September–October, and swine flu cases were at peak during the winter season. Over the past 5 years, the admission rate of measles cases showed a cyclical rising trend, chicken pox showed an inclining trend, whereas tetanus showed a declining trend. The admission trend of diphtheria cases was more or less similar throughout consecutive years except a fall in 2018. The admission rate of dengue cases showed a steep rise in 2016, followed by gradual decline in respective years. However, swine flu admission rate showed a zigzag pattern over the past 5 years. Conclusion: The review of hospital records provided information regarding the overall burden and pattern of admissions in the IDs hospital.