Health Dept steps up vigil to check dengue menace

Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 27

Officials of the District Health Department on Monday convened a meeting with IMA (Bathinda) members and sought cooperation from private/corporate hospitals to tackle the dengue menace. The meeting was conducted at the Civil Surgeon’s office.

The department officials said private hospitals in the city must intimate the Health Department of a suspected or confirmed dengue case diagnosed by them. The meeting, which was headed by Civil Surgeon Dr Hari Narain Singh, was attended by other senior officials of the department.

The officials said owing to lack of co-ordination between the department and corporate hospitals, many patients with symptoms of viral fever or mild symptoms were declared dengue patients.

Dr Umesh Gupta, District Program Officer, National Vector Borne Disease Control Program, said, “To check the dengue menace, the Health Department requires full cooperation and co-ordination from private and corporate hospitals operating in the city. Regular and timely intimation of the confirmed and suspected dengue cases by private hospitals can play a pivotal role in curbing the dengue menace in the district. As the dengue virus spreads in clusters (many patients from a single area) and if the department is informed on time about the location of dengue patients, we can start fogging in the area to prevent the spread of the virus.”

The officials said if informed on time, they would have ample time to trace the location of a dengue patient so that preventive measures could be initiated on time to avoid the spread of the dengue virus.

They said Health Department teams had been exhorting residents to not let water accumulate for more than one week at one place. Awareness drives played a vital role in checking any disease. During the rainy season, the risk of an outbreak of vector-borne diseases increases.

As preventive measures, the department has constituted 25 teams that have been conducting inspections, door-to-door activity and awareness drives in the district. The teams have also found dengue larvae from four different locations in the district and destroyed them on the spot. Besides, intensive awareness drives have been conducted in different areas of the district to sensitise residents to the dengue virus, how it spreads and can be prevented.