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350 die of rain-related diseases

LUCKNOW: With rain-related diseases claiming over 350 lives in Uttar Pradesh during the current spell of monsoons, a red alert has been sounded in the State.

With five more deaths caused by viral fever and malaria being reported from Kanpur Dehat district on Thursday, a total of 27 persons have succumbed to the disease in the district alone.

While encephalitis has claimed 181 lives in the eastern districts with Gorakhpur accounting for a maximum of 54 deaths, 94 persons died of diarrhoea, 15 from gastroenteritis, 45 due to measles and three of jaundice.

On Thursday, the Health Department furnished data on the number of deaths in Kanpur Dehat, which stood at 129, of which only 27 died due to viral fever and malaria. The remaining 102 casualties have been attributed to other causes, including snake bites and tuberculosis.

The State Director-General, Medical and Health, I.S. Srivastava, conceded that none of the 129 deaths in Kanpur Dehat district occurred in hospitals. The victims died in their villages. Dr. Srivastava said the conclusion on the cause of the deaths was arrived after conducting a death audit wherein a door-to-door survey was conducted in the affected villages by a special team of doctors.

According to the health official, 10 blocks of the district, incorporating 139 villages, have been affected by viral fever and malaria. He added that till Wednesday, 55,180 patients were treated and 17,866 blood samples collected. Around 635 cases have been detected as malaria positive cases.

There are about 23,500 malaria cases in different parts of the State. (Figures updated till August 2008). Apart from Kanpur Dehat district, cases of fever/malaria were reported from Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Chandauli, Fatehpur, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Lucknow. No casualties have been reported from these districts.

Malaria continued to claim lives despite the fact that the Malaria Control Programme (MCP) has been implemented in Uttar Pradesh since 1979-80. Crores have been spent by the government for the successful implementation of the programme.

This year, heavy and prolonged spell of rainfall in almost the entire State added to the miseries of the people. Floods led to an increase in vector density in the water-logged areas.

The DG, Health said, orders had been issued for spraying insecticides in the sensitive villages as per the government norms. Village Health Sanitation Committees were constituted for monitoring the preventive measures.

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