THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the entire machinery battles the COVID-19 pandemic, the state capital is slowly slipping into the grip of other communicable diseases including dengue, chikungunya and leptospirosis. While COVID-19 has claimed only one life in the district, one person each died of leptospirosis and dengue in the past few weeks drawing urgent attention of the authorities.
As per the statistics with the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Cell, two dengue deaths, one confirmed and four suspected leptospirosis deaths have been reported in the district so far this year.
A 38-year-old woman from Varkala died of leptospirosis on Monday and a confirmed dengue death was reported at Manikkal last week. The district medical office is now gearing up to withdraw health officials from COVID-19 duty to tackle other communicable diseases in the district. However, the lockdown and social distancing imposed will be a challenge for the health workers.
A senior official with the office said there is a spike in the number of cases of dengue, chikungunya and leptospirosis in the district. “Summer showers have triggered a rise in mosquito index in many parts of the district. Currently, all our employees are engaged in the prevention of coronavirus and we are unable to focus on other activities. We will be withdrawing our officials of District Vector Control Unit from COVID-19 duty and deploy them for mosquito surveillance. Extensive fogging activities will be undertaken,” he said.
The official said household sanitation has to be stepped up and mosquito breeding grounds need to be eliminated to prevent a mass outbreak of vector-borne diseases. “Citizens must keep their houses and surroundings clean. A majority of the residents depend on domestic help for cleaning but, because of the lockdown, they’re unable to find such help. It shouldn’t be an excuse for keeping their homes unclean,” said the official.
“This year, our workers will not be able to carry out house visits or inspections because of social distancing. We will be adopting the IEC (information, education and communication) approach to tackle the situation,” the official added.
Telemedicine
With medical care becoming a distant dream for many because of the ongoing situation, patients with seasonal illnesses are forced to take self-treatment. Though the government is planning to introduce telemedicine and mobile care for patients with other illnesses, it is an unknown territory for the majority of the population here. “The concept is good but we are yet to know the practicality of the initiative. Medical practitioners will have to find additional time,” said an official.