Saturday, Sep 14, 2002
Saturday, Sep 14, 2002 |
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Andhra Pradesh
By Our Staff Reporter
As many as seven cases have been confirmed in different parts of the State, including four in Warangal district, by the Lucknow-based National Institute of Communicable Diseases. The Health Minister, K. Sivaprasada Rao, on Friday did not rule out the possibility of dengue assuming epidemic proportions in the coming days because of the rampant mosquito menace. He appealed to the people to take all precautionary measures to keep the mosquitoes at bay. He also wanted private hospitals to look out for dengue cases and carry out the necessary tests on a war-footing. Asked why the Government required a private hospital in the city to confirm the incidence of dengue fever, despite its own huge network of hospitals and medical experts, the Minister said serological tests conducted by Government hospitals turned out to be `negative' for dengue, while the one done at the Yashoda Super Speciality Hospitals was positive. "We have no intention of hiding anything. In fact, it was me who got in touch with the Yashoda Hospital authorities for details. Meanwhile, the NICD results too poured in,'' he said. ``In fact, we had sent the blood samples collected in Warangal district to NICD for routine tests fearing a malarial outbreak. That there was dengue virus in them was an accidental find,'' he said. Mr. Rao said the State Government would request the NICD to send special teams to conduct tests in Warangal, Krishna and Hyderabad districts to find out if there were more cases of dengue. "They should be reaching the State in two or three days,'' he said. Meanwhile, the Health Minister, who called on two patients recovering from dengue at Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda, besides visiting the hyacinth-laden backwaters of Hussainsagar lake on the Ministers Road, wanted the health and municipal authorities to step up anti-larval and fogging operations. He said the focus should be on slums, water bodies and stagnant pools of water most conducive for aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue virus, to breed. He appealed to the general public to inform the local authorities about stagnant water in their localities so that draining could be taken speedily. "There are no budgetary constraints for these operations which form an integral part of the municipal authorities works,'' the Minister replied, when asked if any special allocations were being made to combat dengue fever in the State. The MCH Commissioner, Chitra Ramachandran, said the mosquito control measures were being intensified with as many as 225 teams fanning out to all parts of the city. Of this, 122 teams were out-sourced. Eight major water bodies were also identified for anti-larval operations. According to a report from Nellore, a case of dengue was reported in Nellore district way back in May. As per information, 11-year-old Kathari Chanakya, of Nellore town, was admitted to the Govt. Paediatrics Hospital, Nellore, on May 13, with headache, blood vomiting, convulsions and spots on the body. Following treatment he recovered and was discharged from the hospital after 10 days. The field centre of the National Institute of Virology, Bangalore, confirmed the case as `positive' after testing the serological samples.
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