Health dept gears up to tackle Ebola, starts training doctors?

The state health department will conduct surprise checks at three airports in the state to see whether screening for Ebola patients is being conducted according to the guidelines laid down by the Union health ministry.

The state health department will conduct surprise checks at three airports in the state to see whether screening for Ebola patients is being conducted according to the guidelines laid down by the Union health ministry.

So far 218 passengers who had come in contact with Ebola affected patients before coming to Maharashtra have been declared ‘fit’ by the health department, which was monitoring them for Ebola symptoms for a span of 30 days.

“A team of senior doctors will be conducting surprise checks at the airports and will also check whether the medical staff screening the passengers is following all precautions as required,” said Dr Satish Pawar, director, state health department.

The health department will also roll out a training programme for medical professionals on Ebola preparedness in Pune. A team of doctors and a senior nurse from Pune were designated by the health department for a training session in Delhi conducted by the union health ministry. “Our team of master trainers has arrived from Delhi.

“In many cases, we were unable to trace the passengers as their address or phone numbers were incorrect. We don’t want to miss any probable case,” added Dr Pawar. So far, five passengers who had a travel history to the countries affected with Ebola in West Africa were isolated in the state. None of them were found positive which has killed 4,922 people and affected around 10,141.