Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday urged people not to panic over the spread of chikungunya and said the disease by itself rarely causes death.
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According to a municipal report released yesterday, at least 1,057 cases of this vector-borne disease have been recorded till September 10, however, hospitals in the city altogether are reporting much higher number. This year, Delhi’s top administration, including the Lieutenant-Governor, chief minister, deputy chief minister and two other ministers have been pilloried for travelling out of the city for long periods when they should have guided the source destruction activities and public health network.
Nadda said that 11 advisories have been issued to all states and they have been requested to declare dengue as a notifiable disease.
“The five deaths from dengue took place between September 1-13”, a top AIIMS official told PTI. “The hospitals under Delhi government are separate from those belonging to the centre”. Initially in what was projected as joint action CM Kejriwal was on radio urging Delhi-ites to take photographs of garbage dumps and send them in, assuring them of immediate coordinated response.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda said there was no dearth of medicines and testing kits in the hospitals. He further added that the doctors have been advised to strictly follow the protocols with Ministry also providing training to health workers to ensure timely implementation of various activities that need to be undertaken for vector control. “He succumbed to complications due to chikungunya with sepsis on September 12 around 4.30 a.m.”, said a senior official of the hospital. He said no death can occur due to chikungunya as Google was his source of information.
The death toll due to dengue in the national capital has mounted to 14 with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) confirming five more fatalities due to the vector-borne disease which has affected over 1,150 people this season.
In the wake of a sudden spurt in chikungunya and dengue cases, the Delhi government has ordered municipal corporations to inspect all construction sites for breeding of mosquitoes within two days, and cancelled leaves of doctors and paramedical staff of its hospitals and dispensaries. In West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka, cases of dengue have been reported.
Meanwhile, the people in West Bengal have tested positive for malaria also.
Mr Nadda stressed the need to start rigorous awareness campaigns regarding the preventive steps to be taken by the people in their communities.
He said, “I visited 12 government hospitals today and I didn’t find anything wrong anywhere”. The hospital has 23 chikungunya positive patients admitted now.
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A year ago too, the state government had asked hospitals to procure 1,000 new beds.
