As many as 37 persons have died due to high fever and about 250 others have contracted similar symptoms in Mumbai in the last two days in the wake of the recent deluge, sources said.

Maharashtra chief secretary summoned a high-level meeting of health officials at Mantralaya on Thursday to take precautionary measures to deal with the situation.

The meeting will also draw new strategies, taking into account that number of leptospirosis cases during August was always on the rise in the last three years, "and this year with the floods, the cases of leptospirosis might go up," Dr J V Telang, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation health executive, said.

Of the 26 deaths, 14 persons lost their lives on Wednesday after they were admitted to various city hospitals with high fever, state health officials said.

• After deluge, its diseases now

Meanwhile, official sources said, cases of diarrhoea had reduced while that of leptospirosis, dengue, malaria, typhoid and viral fever were going up. The 250 persons, admitted to various hospitals in the city following complaints of high fever, could be suffering from typhoid, malaria or leptospirosis, and health officials were looking into the causes, the sources added.

However, health officials said these cases could be treated and they had enough stock of antiboitics.

Since July 26, the metropolis had registered 30 confirmed cases of leptospirosis, 10 dengue, 352 cases of hepatitis and 596 cases of malaria, the state health directorate said, adding that during the same period, the number of cases of fever in Mumbai was 46,075 while that of diarrhoea and vomitting was 22,787. All of them were under treatment.

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