The Special Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Dr P Senthil Kumar, Vellore Collector Shankar, and a team of officials from the Department of Public Health, inspected Salavanpettai and Old Town areas on Wednesday and advised residents to take precautions to prevent breeding of mosquitoes responsible for spreading vector-borne diseases.
The officials visited households and advised the residents not to allow stagnation of water in and around their vicinity. Rain water collected in broken coconut shells, pots, utensils and old tyres led to breeding of mosquitoes, they cautioned. They requested the residents to drink boiled water and take care of the children while watching their health, especially during the onset of monsoon. They advised them to use mosquito repellents. If anyone was affected by fever, they should immediately be referred to nearest government hospital.
The visit of the senior official to the fort city followed the death of four children in the city due to various illnesses in the past one month.
Earlier, Dr Senthil Kumar held discussions with Collector Shankar, Director of Rural Health Services Dr Paranjothi, Deputy Director of Health Services Dr Somasundaram, Health Officer Dr Priyamvatha and the Dean of the Vellore Medical College, Dr Ravishnakar, at circuit house.
The Special Secretary also held a closed-door meeting with officials of the Health Department from Vellore and Tirupattur units, Vellore Corporation, Municipal Administration Department and Town Panchayats at the Collectorate and reviewed the preventive measures undertaken by the district administration in preventing vector- borne diseases.