Everything You Need to Know About Health Insurance this monsoon season

Posted on: Jul 6, 2021 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Everything You Need to Know About Health Insurance this monsoon season

Monsoons are soothing, for they infuse a sheath of greenery to our surroundings and give us a whiff of fresh air with breezy rains. Wrapped in a warm quilt, listening to your favourite music over a steaming cup of chai and pakoda while you count the rain droplets trickling down through the roof is an experience that could leave you feeling nostalgic. However, the arrival of ‘sweet’ monsoon is also accompanied by a host of invisible health risks- airborne infections like cold and common flu, waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid, and severe vector-borne ailments like malaria and dengue. Despite numerous precautions to avoid these health risks, there seems to be no respite from being infected by at least one of them during the monsoon season.

Health Risks During the Monsoon

The change in weather during monsoon leads to contamination in the air and water bodies surrounding us. They act as breeding grounds for disease-causing microorganisms that make us prone to several health risks. Here are a few common health risks associated with the monsoon:

Air-borne Infections

●These are infections that you can simply catch through inhalation and are hard to control

●Air-borne infections spread when people with certain infections, sneeze, cough, or talk and in the process transmit nasal and throat droplets into the air surrounding us.

●These droplets contain viruses or bacteria that could hang around in the air or land on your body or a surrounding surface that you might come in contact with.
When you inhale these microbes through the air, the infection resides inside your body.

●Examples of airborne infections during monsoon are common flu and cold.

Water-borne Infections

●Water-borne infections are caused by microbes that spread through contaminated water.

●Transmission of these diseases occurs when the contaminated water is used for drinking, or in household chores like preparation of food, and washing clothes.

●Water-borne diseases affect people with low immunity and poor hygiene, making children the most vulnerable section.

●Common water-borne diseases during monsoons include typhoid, diarrhoea, cholera, and hepatitis.

Vector-borne Infections

●Vectors are living organisms that transmit infectious, parasitic microbes from humans to humans or from animals to humans.

●Vector-borne diseases are caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria that are transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes, flies, bugs, and ticks.

●Malaria, Dengue, and Chikungunya are some of the common vector-borne diseases that take shape during the monsoons.

List of Monsoon Diseases

Here is a list of monsoon diseases that are commonly encountered during the monsoon season:

Monsoon Disease	Symptoms	Prevention
Common Cold	Fever, Sneezing, and Sore throat	●Wash your hands regularly ●Sanitise the contact surfaces ●Build your immunity
Viral Fever	Headache, Bodyache, chills and shivering, dehydration, sweating, fatigue, and loss of appetite	●Consume clean and boiled water ●Don’t share your belongings with others ●Cover your cough ●Keep washing your hands regularly
Malaria	Fever, cough, headache, chills, fatigue, nausea, sweating, and abdominal pain	●Apply insect repellent and avoid dark-coloured clothing ●No water stagnation ●Use a mosquito net while sleeping
Dengue	High fever (104 Fahrenheit), bad headaches, fatigue, nausea, eye pain, skin rashes, joint pains, mild bleeding of gums and nose	●Avoid stagnation of water ●Use mosquito repellents, window meshes, and bed nets
Cholera	Diarrhoea with watery stools, vomiting, dehydration, muscle cramps, and even seizures	●Get a shot of cholera vaccine ●Drink boiled water ●Good sanitation
Typhoid	High fever, headache, stomach ache, loose stools, fatigue, severe abdominal pain	●Vaccination ●Regular fluid intake ●Isolation of the infected
Swine Flu	Cough, fever, sore throat, runny nose, chills, fatigue, body ache	●Maintain 6 feet distance from people ●Ensure personal hygiene ●Cover up your cough or sneeze
Chikungunya	Fever, joint and muscle pain, headache, swelling of joints	●Use insect repellent and mosquito netting ●Wear adequate protective clothing ●Stay indoors whenever possible during rains

Why is Health Insurance Important During Monsoon?

From the above list of monsoon diseases, one can gather that some of the symptoms are commonly seen in most people during the rainy season. Although there are basic precautions that one could practice to prevent being affected by these severe illnesses, it is still possible to be easily affected by them. Some of these monsoon diseases can be life-threatening, leading to severe hospitalisation. In such cases, being a health insurance policyholder could be a boon in disguise that ensures swift medical treatment without having to worry about your finances in an emergency.

Besides being affected by severe illnesses, monsoons are also infamously remembered for slippery and pothole-filled roads. Driving on such roads during monsoons could be dangerous and may cause severe injuries to the driver, passenger, and other people on the road. Also, a rise in floodwaters during the monsoon is associated with a high risk of electrocution. This brings us to the point of having the best health insurance in India to take care of your loved ones.

Benefits of Having Health Insurance During Monsoon

A health insurance cover during the monsoon provides financial coverage against medical expenses incurred during the treatment or hospitalisation of the insured person caused due to any vector-borne or water-borne diseases. Some of these ailments have been deemed as severe illnesses, and availing customised health insurance plans for the monsoon diseases are bound to provide a slew of benefits like:

●Adequate financial coverage against the treatment of monsoon diseases such as malaria, dengue, typhoid, or even accidental injuries during the rainy season
●Coverage for diagnostic tests, medical costs, and ambulance service
●Outpatient doctor visits or follow-up hospitalisation in specific cases
●Availability of top-up plans for additional coverage in case of ICU admissions, along with benefits like no-claim bonus
●Cashless claim facility across a wide network of hospitals

Conclusion

During the monsoon, many of us take a cold or flu for granted, but neglecting it for a prolonged period could result in severe monsoon ailments that may require hospitalisation. Thus, it is important to approach a nearby health practitioner and seek immediate medical help. Equally important is that you are well-equipped with the best health insurance in India that ensures comprehensive medical coverage and a smooth claim settlement provision so that undergoing medical treatment doesn’t become a hassle during a health emergency.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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