Health dept gears up to meet dengue threat

| | Dehradun
  • 0

Health dept gears up to meet dengue threat

Monday, 18 May 2020 | PNS | Dehradun

Amid spread of contagion of Covid-19, the state health department is gearing up to meet the challenge from dengue. Last year the vector borne disease had affected more than 10,500 persons in Uttarakhand and had taken many lives.

 In Dehradun district alone, the health department reported 4,991 patients with six deaths.

As dengue season starts with the summers and lasts till onset of the winters, the state health department which at present is engaged in a grim battle with the Covid-19 wants that the dengue should not assume epidemic proportions this year.

The director general of state health services, Dr Amita Upreti has already issued two advisories to the districts on preparedness for dengue. The state nodal officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Dr Pankaj told The Pioneer that the department has started an awareness programme for the disease. He said that the department has increased its testing capacity for dengue this year. Dr Pankaj said that a video conferencing session would soon be organised with the district officials. The district vector borne diseases officer of Dehradun, Subhash Joshi said that all hospitals have  been asked to keep the department informed about the cases of dengue. He said that the hospitals have been asked to refrain from rapid testing technique and adhere to Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) test for confirmation of the disease. Joshi added that the health workers have been asked to keep an eye on dengue prone areas.

Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito.  The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decrease drastically which may prove fatal for the patient.  In Uttarakhand the disease is more prevalent in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda