Health Minister urges vigilance and cooperation to combat rising dengue cases

Team Udayavani, Jul 3, 2024, 10:19 AM IST

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Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao announced that the government would regulate fees for dengue tests in private hospitals, aiming to control dengue cases with the cooperation of various departments. He stated this after a coordination meeting with officials from the Rural Development, Urban Development, and BBMP departments at Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday.

In the meeting, Rao urged local cooperation for dengue control and assigned responsibilities to health department officials. He mentioned that dengue, which typically peaks every two years, has seen an increase this year compared to the last. He called for public vigilance to prevent water stagnation, noting that larvae were found in stored tires at transport depots and bus stands, and requested the transport department to address this issue.

Temephos spraying is being conducted, and fogging will be done in the final stage. Medical officers at primary health centers, MOHs, are tasked with visiting 8-10 schools in their areas to train teachers and raise awareness among students. District Commissioners and Panchayat CEOs will be convened within two days to finalize guidelines, he added.

Private Hospitals Not Providing Information

The minister revealed that dengue cases have increased from 2,903 during the same period last year to 6,187 from January 1 to July 1 this year. Rural areas account for 3,463 cases, constituting 56% of the total, while 44% are from urban areas, with 1,563 cases reported in the BBMP jurisdiction. The rise in detected cases is attributed to a 42% increase in testing rates.

Six deaths have been reported so far, three of whom were suffering from other illnesses as well. The case fatality rate (CFR) should be below 0.5%, and Karnataka’s CFR is approximately 0.09%, so there is no need for alarm, he explained.

Rao expressed concerns that actual cases might be higher than estimated by the health department, as many private hospitals have not provided accurate data. To address this, uploading data to the web portal has been made mandatory. He assured that sufficient testing kits have been supplied to government hospitals to prevent shortages. Currently, there is no specific treatment for dengue; paracetamol is administered, and in cases of severe fever and low platelet count, blood banks are on standby. Adequate IV fluids have also been stocked, he detailed.

No Discussion on Fee Regulation

Rapid antigen tests are being conducted to diagnose suspected dengue cases, but only ELISA-tested cases are considered positive by the government. Since the rate for the NS1 test is not fixed, private hospitals charge arbitrarily. When questioned by the media about the absence of discussion on test fees in the minister’s meeting, Rao promptly directed that the rates be fixed by the next day.

Mandatory Visits Every Friday

In the BBMP jurisdiction, larval surveys and public awareness efforts were initially directed at vulnerable areas with high populations of the poor and workers. Now, similar surveys and awareness campaigns are to be conducted in all 2.5-3 million homes in Bangalore. Local welfare associations, building worker unions, and organizations like CREDAI may assist in this effort. Similar larval surveys should be carried out in every house by other city corporations and local bodies. Officials are instructed to conduct on-site inspections and supervision every Friday.