Ghaziabad The district administration has formed a dedicated team to trace people affected by influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) who have potential risk of being Covid-19 positive. The move is primarily aimed at early detection of positive cases that will help reduce the fatalities, officials said.
The three-member team, stationed at the Covid-19 control room set up on the district headquarters premises, will fetch information of ILI and SARI cases from different sources that include non-Covid hospitals, chemist shops, surveillance teams and surveys conducted by booth level officers (BLOs).
“It (formation of a dedicated team) has been done for early detection and faster referral of positive cases to Covid hospitals so that such cases don’t move to aggravated state and result in fatalities. The team will ensure that all the ILI/SARI patients are tested for Covid-19,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.
To aid the dedicated team, the administration has asked all the chemists in the district to note down the details of those who come to their shops to buy medicines related to fever, cough, cold, etc, the officials said. The chemists have been told to maintain register with details of purchasers and pass on the information to the dedicated team through the social media group.
Till Sunday, 64 patients have died of Covid-19 in Ghaziabad. Official records state that 16 (25%) of them were affected by ILI and SARI symptoms. So far, the district has reported a total of 4,619 positive cases of coronavirus.
{{/usCountry}}Till Sunday, 64 patients have died of Covid-19 in Ghaziabad. Official records state that 16 (25%) of them were affected by ILI and SARI symptoms. So far, the district has reported a total of 4,619 positive cases of coronavirus.
{{/usCountry}}According to district health department officials, patients affected by ILI constitute about 20-25% of total Covid-19 cases while those affected by symptoms of SARI account for about 2% of the total positive cases.
“Although the share of ILI cases is about 20-25%, their positivity rate is about 6%. On the other hand, the positivity rate of SARI cases is nearly 40%. So, we are taking extra precautions with such cases and ensuring that they get detected early before their symptoms aggravate and lead to complications,” said an officer from the health department who wished not to be named.
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has directed for further reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of only symptomatic patients who turn negative through rapid antigen kits.
But the health department is taking no chances with the ILI and SARI cases. “We are getting all ILI and SARI cases tested through RT-PCR testing even if they are found negative with rapid antigen kits,” the health officer said.
The chief medical officer has been directed to send mobile van teams to registered non-Covid hospitals and also make available rapid antigen kits to them for testing of ILI/SARI affected patients. The Ghaziabad district at present has three mobile vans which visit different areas for testing, the officials said.
“Our surveillance teams who are taking up surveys in containment zones and teams comprising booth level officers have been roped in to detect ILI and SARI cases. About 250 households each have been assigned to BLOs from where they will trace such cases.The required information will be passed on to the dedicated team who will ensure that such cases are tested and referred to L2 or L3 Covid facilities if they are found positive,” Pandey added.
The administration has also said that regular health status of asymptomatic patients in Covid facilities will be checked for ILI or SARI symptoms, the officials said.