Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

WHO to despatch diagnostic kits

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 17. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is despatching diagnostic kits for the detection of dengue and leptospirosis, which have emerged as major killer diseases with the advancement of the Southwest monsoon.

The WHO would be sending 100 diagnostic kits for dengue and 500 kits for the detection of leptospirosis. The initial consignment was expected to reach Kozhikode on July 20, the Health Secretary, K. Ramamoorthy, told The Hindu.

Since January this year, the State has recorded 46 dengue deaths (with one more fatality reported from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital today) and 43 deaths due to leptospirosis. The cumulative total of patients who have tested positive for dengue during serological examination is 1,363, while that in the case of leptospirosis is 798.

Harshvardhan Batra, an expert on leptospirosis attached to the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which has manufactured the diagnostic kits, is expected to accompany the consignment and render his expertise to the medical fraternity in the State.

Confronted with the spiral of viral fever and the mounting dengue and rat fever deaths, the Health Department has been forced to outsource for more diagnostic kits for the vector-borne diseases from centres in New Delhi, Chennai and the Indian Council for Medical Research.

Mr. Ramamoorthy had placed a request for more diagnostic kits to S. J. Habayeb, WHO representative in India, as early as June 26 detailing the gravity of the situation in the State.

The WHO's official communication confirming the despatch of the first batch of kits has come almost three weeks after the request was made. In between, the Health Department imported 96 diagnostic kits from a German manufacturer to shore up the stock position.

According to the Health Secretary, the kitswould be distributed among district-level laboratories, microbiology units attached to the Medical Colleges and the Public Health Laboratory. It is estimated that at least 100 patients can be subjected to serological examination using a single kit.

``We are focussing on the importance of maintaining environmental cleanliness with multi-sectoral and community involvement'', Mr. Ramamoorthy said.

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