Chennai: Deaths due to viral fever among children in Tiruvallur continue unabated with a 15-year-old having succumbed on Saturday night. Srinivasan from Podaturpet (64 km from district HQ of Tiruvallur) who had undergone treatment in three different hospitals, including Chennai’s Madras Medical College, succumbed at MMC.
It was alleged that there was no doctor at the hospital and reports of the tests conducted on the child were not shared with his parents or relatives. It was also alleged that the child succumbed to dengue and was not treated properly.
However, District Collector, E. Sundarvalli, stated otherwise. “The boy was referred to the Government Hospital in Podaturpet from a PHC. As no progress was recorded, he was shifted to MMC where he succumbed. What the public wants is for the 30-bedded hospital to have more than two to three doctors that it already has. Therefore, we are going to appoint an extra physician and paediatric specialist to the Podaturpet Government Hospital, as is the case in the Tiruvallur and Tiruttani government hospitals.”
With knowledge on the ill effects of improper water storage lacking, the breeding of the Aedes mosquito has been on the rise. “If, on an average, there are 100 fever cases, 90 per cent will be generally self-limiting seasonal kind of fevers which get cured by general fever control medicines. In the remaining 10 per cent of cases, particularly in Tiruvallur, it is seen that there is a mixture of dengue positive cases, leptospirosis and enteric-based infections,” said a senior health official, who added that five to six dengue positive cases were reported in the district.
To address issues of dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome, the state health officials have been focusing on intense source reduction activities, while involving the public, to eliminate the breeding sources, which many a time are found within the houses or in peridomestic areas.
“The district administration is launching a massive mass cleaning campaign to prevent other kinds of water borne and zoonotic diseases. Focus is also being laid on clinical case management by bringing about uniformity. The World Health Organization (WHO) protocol has been advocated to government and private doctors and severe action is being taken on quacks dispensing medicines,” he said.
In dengue shock syndrome in which the BP suddenly goes down, doctors are advocated to refer the patients to higher centres based on clinical observation before criticality sets in, he said.
Step up efforts to control dengue outbreak: Tamilisai Soundararajan
Calling for efforts to step up the measures to prevent the spread of dengue in the state, BJP state president Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan said the civic and health authorities should prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
The senior leader, who visited the Tiruttani Government Hospital where suspected dengue cases were admitted and interacted with the patients and doctors, claimed that the doctors have been providing treatment to the affected as per protocol, and said the government should eradicate mosquitoes.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has come out with a campaign to allay the apprehensions of the public on this fever. Listing high fever, severe headache, backaches, etc. as among the symptoms of dengue, the ministry said dengue infection is preventable and curable too. It urged the people to keep their environment clean and tidy.
Dr. Tamilisai, who launched a campaign on her twitter account, urged the people to keep their houses, streets and the neighbourhood clean. “No water stagnation prevents mosquito breeding #protect day time mosquito bite by proper clothing,” she tweeted. Following the outbreak of dengue cases in the district, the Tiruvallur district unit of the BJP launched an awareness campaign to educate the people.
