Indore: Health officials hold meet, draw plan to curb dengue spread

With 46 positive cases and three deaths, dengue fever has sent alarm bell ringing among health officials. A special division-level meeting to discuss the action plan to combat the disease was held on Monday.

With 46 positive cases and three deaths, the dengue fever has sent the alarm bell ringing among the health department officials. A special division-level meeting to discuss the action plan to combat the disease was held on Monday.

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The meeting attended by health officers, doctors, specialists and people from the medical fraternity highlighted ways to check other seasonal diseases like chikungunya and malaria, but the drastic rise of dengue cases was a source of high concern for all.

"Last year we had only a handful of cases and no deaths. But this year the number of cases have risen manifolds. In a time frame of barely a month we have got an alarming number of cases," said Dr GL Sodi, in-charge of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project.

To add more fuel to the fire, the portal which keeps a record of the number of cases received an input of 12 cases and two confirmed deaths today. "We got a confirmation of two deaths today. Also around 12 cases have come today. They are not centered in a particular area, but the entire city seems to have been gripped under the dengue scare," added Dr Sodi.

However, while the preparedness meeting focused on building an agenda like setting up control rooms, mobilising the surveillance team among others, the emphasis on Village Health Sanitation Centres was also voiced.

"The scheme of VHSC focuses on improving sanitation in different villages. It is a funded programme by NRHM. The strengthening of this programme is important as it will ensure that other seasonal diseases do not spread," said Dr Sharad Pandit, joint director (Health), Indore.

While technical steps remain an important area to be worked upon by the department, awareness about the spread of diseases primarily dengue has also been set on the agenda.