Kalaburagi: While the district authorities are battling hard to handle the sharp increase in dengue fever cases, the deadly virus has not even spared the Medical Education Minister, Dr Sharan Prakash Patil.
The Minister has been undergoing treatment for the last five days in the City. His condition is said to be improving and is likely to resume work from Saturday.
The district civil hospital, Basaveshwar Medical and Teaching Hospital and other private hospitals in the city are finding it difficult to handle the high number of cases and in-patients.
As a contingency measure the district authorities have also taken the help of private nursing students from different colleges in the city to make door-to-door visits to educate the public and also destroy the potential breeding grounds of mosquitoes, which are responsible for the spread of disease. Department of Health and Family Welfare staff and ASHA workers are also carrying out awareness campaigns.
According to the District Health Officer Dr Shivaraj Sajjanshetty, they have already conducted three rounds of door-to-door campaigning. Â
Of the 1,927 suspected cases of dengue in the district, 474 have been confirmed and out of these 368 are from Kalaburagi city alone.
According to Dr Shetty there has been a decline in the number of positive cases this month, when compared with early part of July.
“In July out of 100 suspected cases, there were 33 positive cases of dengue. The figure has now come down to 13 cases out of 100,” he added.
When asked about reasons the alarming rise in the dengue cases this year, Dr Shetty said, “This could due to a spell of intermittent light showers. If the district had received heavy rains, the larvae would have been washed away,” he added.
The DHO denied reports that shortage of fogging machines was affecting the measures to control the spread of virus. “The Corporation has three vehicle mounted machines and also seven hand held fogging machines. They are being used in places where high number of cases were reported,” he added.
The commencement of Elisa Test facility here from this year for dengue cases has come as a boon for the patients.
“Earlier the blood samples had to be sent to Bengaluru for testing, which delayed the commencement of treatment. Now that the facility is available in the district, it is helping even those who are being treated at the private hospitals,” Dr Shetty added.
