Chennai: At least 15 dengue cases have been recorded at various government hospitals in the state since the beginning of the rainy season while the health department has recorded around 1,400 of them since January 2014.
Cases were reported in Chengalpet and last week in Tambaram and Pallavaram. “There is a drastic decline in the number of dengue cases every year due to continuous monitoring and co-ordination with the district administrations and local bodies,” says director of public health Dr Kolandaisamy. While the department recorded over 13,200 cases in 2012, this came down to around 6,100 in 2013.
In Chennai, six patients with dengue were admitted at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital besides 10 outpatients, but none were reported from other government hospitals in the city.
“However, dengue cases will not be reported at least for the next one week as the recent heavy showers have washed away wastes, stagnating water and mosquito breeding grounds like coconut shells, eggs and larvae of the aedes aegypti mosquito, preventing the spread of the disease,” says Dr Kolandaisamy.
The district administrations and local bodies have already been asked to carry out massive anti-dengue drives in their localities, with cleaning activities being initiated.
The directorate has around 8,000 sub-centres, around 9,000 village health nurses, 4,000 health inspectors and 5,000 doctors tackling the spread of the virus. A few personnel from the local areas have been roped in to handle the situation.
“Though the health staff have been trained to clean and clear public places, such as the bus stands, they find it difficult to go on door-to-door visits as they are often not allowed inside the houses in most of the households while the door is locked in some houses, affecting door-to-door checks,” Dr Kolandaisamy notes.
