Chennai: The five-member Central team that undertook a visit of Tamil Nadu to ascertain the impact of dengue outbreak has asked the State government to opt for early diagnosis and strive to create more awareness about the fever among the people and thereby bring behavioural change.
"People, even children, are aware of dengue and how it spreads but they are not following adequate precautions. They need a behavioural change as the State Principle Health Secretary (Dr. J. Radhakrishnan) has pointed out. This can be achieved by stepping up the awareness programmes", said Dr. Kaplana Baruah, Joint Director, National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme, who was a member of the Central team.
The team also asked the State government to test all fever cases for dengue within the first three days as per WHO protocol in addition to taking up early diagnosis. The team, which arrived to the city on Friday, was deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assess the situation following a request from Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, recently.
The team, which concluded its visit on Monday, had visited two hospitals here besides affected areas in the city, Salem and Chengalpet on Saturday. On Sunday, it visited Puducherry.
According to sources, the State has decided to implement the team's recommendations immediately without waiting for a report from the Centre.
"While people coming to government hospitals undergo a rapid NS1 antigen test, those visiting private hospitals get different tests done on day five or after. The Central team felt that with an early diagnosis, we might be able to bring down deaths", Dr. Radhakrishnan said.
