Rapid card tests for dengue not reliable: Health Dept

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 26

As the fear of dengue outbreak is on the rise, the Health Department has advised the people not to go for rapid card test owing to its unreliable results.

Chief Medical Officer Vinod Gupta told The Tribune here today: “Majority of private hospitals and pathological labs are performing rapid card test for the detection of dengue, but its results are unreliable which could lead to inaccurate treatment.”

“We have advised the public not to take any medicine before it is a confirmed case of dengue. As per the guidelines of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, NS1 Elisa test is reliable for the confirmation of a dengue case. After the five days of fever, IGM Elisa test for dengue is conducted. The tests are conducted at the Civil Hospital free of cost,” he said.

In all, 13 positive cases of dengue and 39 cases of malaria have been reported in the district so far.

As per the data given by the Health Department, 552 dengue cases were reported in Ambala last year of which one person died of dengue, while 112 people were tested positive for malaria. In 2014, 10 people were tested positive for dengue and 79 for malaria. In 2013, 67 people were tested positive for dengue and 485 for malaria.

Gupta said: “Necessary steps are being taken to check the breeding of mosquitoes and the department is creating awareness. Anti-larval concoctions are being sprayed.

“The fogging work has been handed over to the Municipal Corporation in urban areas and to the BDOP and Gram Panchayats in rural areas. We have requested the officials concerned to start intensive fogging to check the disease from spreading.”

Gagandeep Singh, Joint Commissioner, Ambala Municipal Corporation, said: “Besides fogging, refused oil is being used to stop the breeding of mosquitoes. The corporation has two fogging machines and efforts are afoot to make the optimum use of the available resources. ”