CHENNAI: Doctors in special medical camps in flood-hit areas say the shortage of ointments needed to treat athlete’s foot is hindering the treatment of most common infections caused by walking through waterlogged areas.
“People get angry with us as we keep saying the ointments are unavailable. It is the responsibility of officials to make sure of adequate supply,” said a doctor serving in a medical camp in a southern part of the city. Unable to manage to situation, the doctor said they got the ointment through a doctor in Tirunelveli.
Whitfield and Clotrimazole are the two most common ointments for treatment of athlete’s foot. But doctors say in most camps the ointments just aren’t there.
Another doctor in a north Chennai medical camp said the ointments went out of stock as many got athlete’s foot after wading through stagnant water for several days. “Eighty per cent of the people coming to the camps have this infection. But we are unable to treat them because the ointments have run out,” said the doctor.
When a health official was asked, the official said the shortage was there earlier but “now we have enough supply.” The special camps are organized by the city corporation and various wings of the health department.