CHENNAI: A day after the death of a 20-year-old Anna University student who was diagnosed with scrub typhus, the civic officials initiated vector control measures on the university campus on Saturday. Nearly 100 workers have been deployed on the campus for cleanliness and mosquito-control measures.
The civic officials confirmed to TNIE that the student’s death was the first scrub typhus death reported in the city this year, while 173 cases of scrub typhus have been reported so far. “Scrub typhus is not a mosquito-borne disease and there is no outbreak. Some media falsely reported the student’s death as due to dengue. However, we have initiated vector-prevention measures, which are also usually taken during this month of every year,” a senior corporation official said.
While the city corporation has so far covered 1,635 of 3,103 educational institutions in Chennai with mosquito-control measures, on Saturday, the team covered 231 institutions, including schools and colleges. During the day, nearly 1,976 premises, including 90 schools and 159 hostels, underwent mass vector control measures, where 592 containers were found to have mosquito breeding. All these breeding sources were destroyed, another official told TNIE.
GCC commissioner GS Sameeran inspected the ongoing cleaning works, and directed the corporation staff to ensure that the garden waste are cleared regularly and stagnant water is removed to prevent mosquito breeding. The civic officials were also asked to carry out fogging operations.
The move came a day after the death of Harish, a final-year mechanical engineering student residing at the Marutham Boys’ Hostel on the campus. Harish had developed a fever about four days before his death and was initially treated at Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Guindy before being referred to Kilpauk MCH, where he died on Friday. GCC officials said he had tested negative for dengue and that doctors had diagnosed him with scrub typhus, encephalopathy, respiratory distress syndrome, and organ failure.
Meanwhile, the civic body has initiated intensive mosquito control and fever prevention initiatives across 15 zones in the city, with around 3,597 personnel being deployed. A consultation meeting chaired by Sameeran was held at the Ripon building on Saturday. Sameeran instructed the officials to implement vector-control initiatives across all educational institutions in Chennai and ensure that they are continuously monitored by GCC staff.
Officials said fever surveillance has also been intensified by collecting data on reported fever cases.
