HYDERABAD: With seasonal diseases such as dengue and malaria on the rise in the Secunderabad cantonment area, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) is taking a slew of measures to keep mosquito-borne diseases under control.
The SCB has set up a new rapid response and mosquito-fogging teams for each of the eight wards in the area. According to the SCB officials, after several reports of a spike in dengue, the health and sanitation department of SCB held a meeting on Wednesday to come up with an action plan to keep a check on water-drone diseases.
“Earlier, we had only four teams for mosquito fogging, which were not adequate to cover all the wards, hence, we have added three more teams and set up new guidelines for the sanitation department in the area,” said vice-president, SCB, J Rama Krishnan.
He added that from Saturday, each team with 18 members will take up mosquito fogging twice a day in all the wards. Each ward will also have its vehicle-mounted- fogging machine, with its anti-larval spray team. The officials also said that sanitation officials of each ward will be held responsible if garbage is found on the roads.
A sanitation official of SCB, Mahendra Akula said, “As per the directions, we will undertake extra sanitation work to combat the dengue outbreak in the area. We have spoken to the contractors, and more garbage- collecting trucks have been procured to clear garbage.”
30-year-old dies of dengue, toll rises to 9
The dengue death toll is rising as more number of deaths are reported at private hospitals on a weekly basis. On Thursday morning, a 30-year-old woman succumbed to dengue fever at Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad. According to an official source, “The patient, Anusha, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. She expired on Thursday early morning at around 4.50 am.” This is the second death due to dengue at Yashoda Hospital in the last two days. Seven more deaths have been confirmed from other private hospitals, including Apollo, Ankura and Rainbow Hospital
Three-year-old succumb to dengue
A three-and-a-half-year-old child succumbed to dengue at Ankura Hospital, Banjara Hills, on Thursday morning. According to official sources, “The child, Rehaan, was admitted into the hospital on Wednesday night sometime between 9 pm to 10 pm and passed away on Thursday morning.” This marks the nine recorded death due to dengue just from private hospitals in the city, in the last month