Govt Sets Up Surveillance Mechanism to Curb Dengue

VELLORE: The State Government has established a surveillance mechanism in the state headquarters to identify and record cases of dengue fever in any part of Tamil Nadu, as  measures to prevent and control the vector-borne disease during the northeast monsoon.

Chairing a review meeting in here in Vellore Collectorate on Thursday, Health Minister C  Vijaya Basker directed officials of local bodies, revenue and health departments to also coordinate and carry out preventive measures effectively. The government has also established a 24X 7 public health control room in Chennai to monitor cases of dengue fever. “If any case of fever is reported in a remote village, the health department will act immediately and take necessary steps. They will also engage in source- reduction of mosquitoes and mass cleaning activities in areas where fever is reported,” said the minister.

The public can alert the authorities of fever-cases in their locality by sending an SMS or by calling the control room (94443 40496/ 93614 82899 and 044-24350496/ 24334811). “We have taken measures and brought down the number of fever cases from 13,000 dengue cases in 2012 to 6,122 cases in 2013. This year, around 1,000 cases were reported in the State,” minister Vijaya Basker said.

He said a total of 61 ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay is a test that uses antibodies and color change to identify infection) testing centres in government hospitals and medical colleges have been established to identify dengue fever.

Separate fever wards have been set up in all GHs and government medical colleges in the State. Collector R Nanthagopal, Sub-Collector of Tirupattur Shilpha Prabhakar, RDO of Ranipet M Priyadharshini and other officials took part.