CHENNAI: After the Union Health Ministry instructed the states to closely monitor cases of respiratory illnesses in the wake of surge in numbers in China, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine instructed all the deans of medical college hospitals and other allied institutions to step up surveillance on out-patients as well as in-patients.
In its letter to the director of medical education and research and the director of medical and rural health services and others on Monday, Dr T S Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine requested the officials including private hospitals to report cases of severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), acute respiratory illness and influenza like illness in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme-Integrated Health information Platform portal.
The health department officials also had a meeting to discuss the issue on Monday. The Union Health Ministry asked the states to send nasal and throat swabs of patients, particularly children and adolescents, to virus research and diagnostic laboratories for testing. It also asked to review public health and hospital preparedness such as the availability of training hands, hospital beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen antibiotics, PPE kits and reagents.
‘Send swabs for test’
The Union Health Ministry asked the states to send nasal and throat swabs of patients, particularly children and adolescents, to virus research and diagnostic laboratories for testing