VIJAYAWADA: V Srutisri of Ambedkar Colony in the city died due to Dengue recently. Her father initially shelled out Rs 75000 to get her treated in a corporate hospital. Even as her condition deteriorated and the platelet count dipped alarmingly, the parents, who couldn’t afford costly treatment, shifted her to Old Government Hospital, where she died.
Srutisri is one of the several cases that did not come to light in Vijayawada and Krishna district this monsoon. The number of viral fevers has seen a steep rise in both urban and rural areas of late. Most ailments are due to poor sanitary conditions.
Several dengue, malaria, typhoid and jaundice cases are being treated in Vijayawada’s corporate hospitals. Yet, the civic health officials maintain that the situation, especially the dengue incidence, is well under control.The VMC claims that there are no dengue deaths in the city. Despite the alerts from the State Government, the health wing has not launched any awareness drive. Around 11 persons died due to dengue and at least seven are from city and its suburbs. Senior physicians, however, caution against panicking. They said Aedes mosquito is a daytime biter. “Ensuring that there is no stagnant water and keeping surroundings clean is important to avoid dengue. ,” said senior physician V Balakrishna.
District medical and health officer (DM&HO) R Naga Malleswari said that there have been around 850 viral fever cases registered in Krishna district this year so far. Out of them, 60 are dengue cases, 411 malaria cases .
The remaining are typhoid, jaundice and other viral diseases. She said a door-to-door campaign was already launched in the rural area of the district. Rapid test and the Elisa test are being done to confirm the dengue fever, after which the patients are kept under observation.
“As Vijayawada has so many hospital, patients from neighbouring districts are getting admitted here. However, all fevers are not dengue cases,” she said.