KOZHIKODE: With the district reeling under the Nipah scare, alarm bells have started ringing as the number of patients visiting hospitals is on the decline. Add to that, the onset of monsoons has triggered diseases like Japan Encephalitis and malaria which has already been reported in Kozhikode. According to sources, Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (KMCH) is witnessing less than 350 patients in the outpatient wing now whereas the usual number would be between 2,000 and 2,400. Though emergency cases are only treated after the Nipah breakout, authorities feel that the number of emergency viral fever cases could be more but people not reporting it.
“Only people with minor diseases are asked not to visit the KMCH. Moreover, KMCH is a referral hospital. Emergency cases are not prohibited,” says KMCH superintendent Dr K.G. Sajith Kumar. Only 461 fever patients visited hospitals in the district on Tuesday. The situation is not different in private hospitals too. Sources say that there is about 30 per cent decline in the number of patients. “There is no need to be scared of Nipah outbreak at hospitals. Patients can come to the hospital as usual,” says Dr K.G. Alexander, chairman and managing director of Baby Memorial Hospital.
Patient numbers are at an all time low at Perambra government taluk hospital which is which is one of the places from where Nipah spread. “We usually have some 1,200 patients in the OP. After Nipah, it never crossed 50,” says Dr Jithesh of the hospital. At the same time, the low patient turnout had triggered another debate that Keralites are visiting hospitals for no purpose. “During the past monsoon, there were more than 600 patients at my Community Health Centre (CHC). This time it is just 100. The situation is not different in other health centres.
