Fever patients continue to crowd the out-patient (OP) clinics in the district, with 1,418 new patients reporting at various hospitals on Wednesday.
The new fever OP cases on Tuesday were much lower, at 1,097.
Seventeen new suspected dengue cases and 14 confirmed cases of dengue were reported on Wednesday. Two cases of leptospirosis were confirmed from Malayam and Kannanthura.
The case at Malayam has turned out to be a case of dengue-leptospirosis co-infection as the patient had earlier tested positive for dengue also. Health officials said that this indicated that there was an urgent need to do more blood sample surveillance studies among the community.
Dengue cases were reported on Wednesday from Malayam, Vanchiyoor, Peroorkada, Thirumala, Vellanad, Poojappura, Vizhinjam, Cheenivila (Malayinkeezhu), Vilappil, Vedivechankovil, Naruvamoodu, Pallimukku-Peyad, Vattiyoorkavu and Amboori, indicating the wide geographic spread of dengue fever within the district and the presence of the incriminating vector, Aedes aegypti, in the urban as well as the rural areas of the district.
The reporting of this year's first dengue case at Amboori, near the Tamil Nadu border area of Vellarada, on Wednesday has been noted by the district health administration, which gave directions to intensify vector studies, fever surveillance and containment measures in the Parassala, Poovar, Vellarada and Vithura belt bordering Tamil Nadu.
High-risk zones
The district health administration said that special squads under the District Malaria Officer had been asked to intensify source reduction and control measures in Kalliyoor, Balaramapuram, Pallichal, Malayinkeezhu and Vilappil areas, which had been mapped as high-risk areas for dengue outbreaks.
Fever wards had been opened at almost all major hospitals. Hospital authorities had been asked to isolate fever patients under mosquito nets. Meanwhile, 55 new staff nurses have been appointed by the National Rural Health Mission in the district for a period of three months. Twenty five of these nurses will be deployed at the general hospital, 20 at medical college hospital, and 10 at SAT hospital.
FM Radio
The NRHM has hit upon the idea of utilising the FM radio service to spread awareness messages of dengue.
NRHM officials said that an agreement had been reached with the consortium of private FM channels so that the awareness messages would be broadcast in seven time slots daily on every FM channel.
