VIJAYAWADA: Krishna district witnessed an increase in the number of viral fever cases after rains. Five malaria and three suspected dengue cases have been registered in the district since July 1, and 24 malaria and seven dengue cases have been registered since January 1.
However, the number of viral fever cases has come down drastically from the previous year, when it had touched 712 (malaria) and 148 (dengue) till the first week of July. According to officials, no death cases from malaria or dengue have been registered in the district so far.
Private hospitals have been instructed to notify suspect cases and get them confirmed only through the government general hospital, but they continue to offer dengue and malaria treatment after conducting Dengue NS1 rapid test.
Only Elisa test should confirm the presence of dengue, according to the officials. T Padmaja Rani, DMHO Krishna district, said, “We have clearly instructed all the private hospitals to get the confirmation tests only through GGH. Even the suspected cases have to be notified.”
Speaking on this, Dr S Suresh, Convenor of Praja Arogya Vedika said, “Majority of the private hospitals conduct basic tests, which usually come out with a positive result for any viral fever. They start treatment and extract money from the patients and after two days, they send the swabs for Elisa test, where the report comes negative and the doctors claim that the treatment worked.” Meanwhile, the health department introduced mobile malaria and dengue clinics across the districts with eight vehicles. They also started conducting awareness campaigns with 23 teams across the district.
However, even as the district health officials conduct programs for improving sanitation, the cases of dengue and malaria continue to go up.“The urban areas are doing better but rural and suburban areas like Jakkampudi and Gollapudi regions are witnessing many cases of viral fevers. We are conducting awareness programs and sanitation drives in education institutions and civic areas. We are also distributing pamphlets door to door,” said T Padmaja Rani, DM & HO, Krishna district.