Centre sends team of public health experts to Tamil Nadu, to assess dengue situation

Forty people have died and 11,744 cases of dengue reported in Tamil Nadu till October 9

Centre on Thursday sent a five-member team of public health specialists to the southern state of Tamil Nadu that is grappling with dengue outbreak.

“The team of doctors has left for Tamil Nadu to help the state government study the situation and look for ways to deal with the situation,” said CK Mishra, health secretary.

Experts have been rushed from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and ministry of health and family welfare.

“There is also a consultant in the team,” said Mishra.

The team was deputed on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam met him and told him about alarming rise in the cases of fatal viral infection that is mosquito-borne.

Dengue is a viral disease that is transmitted by the infective bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Fever develops after 5-6 days of being bitten by the mosquito.

The disease has flu-like symptoms such as abrupt onset of high fever, severe frontal headache, pain behind the eyes that worsens with eye movement, muscle and joint pains, appetite loss, measles-like rash over chest and upper limbs, nausea and vomiting.

Those suffering from DHF may also get bleeding from nose, mouth and gums, frequent vomiting with or without blood, rapid weak pulse and difficulty in breathing.

Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala and Karnataka, has witnessed a spurt in dengue cases and the state governments have been trying their best to control the rising numbers and deaths.

As part of efforts to control the spread of dengue, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to undertake a 15-day cleanliness drive in the state. It has warned of action against owners whose unclean premises could lead to mass breeding of mosquitoes spreading the disease.