Picture Courtesy: trekearth.com

The clouds come floating to add the colors into our lives.  Monsoons bring relief after a scorching summer.  The days during monsoon are cool and beautiful.  However, monsoon also brings a number of diseases with them.  Monsoon usually starts in the second week of June in Nepal. But, this time, it has started a week earlier. According to Keshav Das Shrestha, senior divisional meteorologist at Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) under Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, monsoon has already come into sight in eastern Nepal. "Severe cyclonic storms raised on the coast of the Bay of Bengal were the only reason for the early onset of monsoon in Nepal", he reasoned.

Monsoon is generally the season to remove the weariness caused by summer but the scenario is different in the context of Nepal. The government of Nepal does not collect the garbage in time so there are garbage deposits all around the town. These garbage are swept away by the rain and collected into the ditches. And such accumulation on the roads cause the spread of dengue and malaria.

Monsoon is the time when a large number of diseases can easily affect our health and we have to suffer for longer periods of time. Water borne diseases and other viral diseases are most common during the monsoon season. Some of the common diseases during the monsoon are as follows:

• Dengue: Dengue fever is caused by mosquitoes. Some of the common symptoms of dengue are body ache, joint pain, body rashes etc.
• Typhoid: Typhoid is caused by S. Typhi bacteria. This disease is spread through contaminated water. Poor sanitation also causes the spread of this disease.
• Cholera and other water-borne diseases: These diseases are caused due to poor sanitation and also due to the unhygienic eating and drinking habits.
• Viral fever: Although, viral fever are common in any season there are more chances of getting the viral fever during the monsoon season. The symptoms of viral fever is a mild fever for 3 - 7 days.

The following precaution should be taken to stay healthy during the monsoon season:

• The spicy and oily food must be avoided during rainy seasons.
• The foods from the vendors and the food exposed to the surroundings for a long period of time must be avoided.
• Water should not be allowed to be accumulated in the ditches as the mosquitoes larvae are developed in such ditches and spread diseases such as dengue, malaria etc.

Many people die every year due to the electric injuries by the leakage of current. During the monsoon season, there is high chances of leakage of the current so we should not touch wet electrical poles or wires for our safety.

Above guidelines can prove to be beneficial to enjoy this monsoon safely. If people are extra alert and follow some of the above guidelines, this monsoon can truly be a relief.