From mosquito nets for patients to additional beds in hospitals, the Capital’s municipal corporations are getting ready to face the onslaught of dengue cases in the coming months. With monsoon being active this past week, the expected increase in cases of the vector-borne viral disease has made the municipalities ramp up preparations.
Though only 39 cases of dengue have so far been reported in the city, the number is set to rise in the next three months as the weather gets cooler. Last year, Delhi had seen a record-high 15,867 cases of dengue, up from 995 in 2014.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which operates two large hospitals, will be using insecticidal mosquito nets for patients suffering from dengue. All the three corporations are in the process of distributing these nets, which have been made with a chemical-laced fibre that repels mosquitoes, to vulnerable communities. In North Delhi, Mayor Dr. Sanjeev Nayyar has directed the hospitals to give these nets to patients as well.
“Hospitals are zero-tolerance zones, so we cannot allow the disease to spread from a patient. The patients will be kept under their mosquito nets till they are being treated as the virus stays in the blood for up to one week,” said Dr. D.K. Seth, the Director of Hospital Administration of North Corporation.
The North Corporation’s Bara Hindu Rao Hospital and Kasturba Hospital will both stock these nets. In addition, the civic body has stocked 15 lakh paracetamol tablets, IV fluids, the blood bank has been augmented and 438 additional beds prepared.
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation will also be handing out mosquito nets to patients, spokesperson Y.S. Mann said. He added that the civic body had distributed these nets to residents who are at risk of contracting the disease.
While the South Delhi Municipal Corporation does not have any major hospitals, it has ramped up inspections to curb mosquito breeding, apart from distributing the mosquito nets.
