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Monsoon fever risk has moved into the period when it has historically run highest, according to Fever Watch, daily fever risk indicator from digital health firm PharmEasy.
After a relatively dry start to the season, the national risk score has risen from 47 in week one to 61 as of 12th August, while the number of cities reading 'high' has increased from one in mid-July to 10.
Overall risk is now higher than at the start of the season in 186 of the 209 cities tracked by Fever Watch.
The shift has been accompanied by stronger rainfall and mosquito breeding conditions across the country. The national weather and breeding signal has risen from 48 to 87, while 14-day national rainfall has increased from approximately 35 mm at the start of the season to around 133 mm.
Some cities have seen particularly sharp increases, including Karimnagar and Ramagundam in Telangana, Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Jaipur in Rajasthan, said the company.
Typhoid is currently the most-confirmed fever test across the four illnesses tracked by Fever Watch. Typhoid test-positivity stands at 25.5%, or approximately one in four tests, compared with 8.5% for dengue, 1.4% for malaria and 1.8% for chikungunya. While positivity for the three mosquito-borne fevers has declined compared with the same period last year, typhoid remains broadly stable, it added.
Typhoid is also driving seven of the ten cities currently reading 'high', highlighting that the monsoon fever landscape extends beyond mosquito-borne illnesses. Unlike dengue, malaria and chikungunya, typhoid is primarily associated with contaminated food and water, making safe drinking water, food hygiene and sanitation important precautions during the monsoon. Many times some of the typhoid tests can also indicate a false positive result, therefore diagnosis and treatment by a doctor is important.
Historical Fever Watch patterns indicate that overall fever risk typically remains elevated from August into the later monsoon months, while dengue test-positivity in the 2025 season continued to rise through the monsoon and peaked in late October. With the season now entering this period, PharmEasy said that it is encouraging people to remain vigilant and take appropriate precautions.
“Every monsoon, fever is often dismissed as ‘viral’ or immediately associated with dengue. But our data shows that the picture is more complex. This season, typhoid is the most-confirmed fever test and is driving seven of the ten cities currently at HIGH risk. With our ‘You Think It’s Viral?’ campaign and Fever Watch, we want to challenge that assumption and help people look beyond the obvious, using data to understand what is happening in their city and make more informed healthcare decisions,” said Gaurav Verma, chief business officer, PharmEasy.
Fever Watch is PharmEasy’s daily city-level monsoon fever risk indicator, designed to help people understand how fever risk is changing in their city and stay better prepared through the season. It tracks 209 Indian cities across four monsoon fevers — dengue, malaria, chikungunya and typhoid — and assigns each city a daily risk score from 0 to 100.
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