Allaying concerns over outbreak of seasonal diseases, district Collector S. Suresh Kumar has said there is not a single confirmed dengue case in the district.
There were three suspected dengue cases out of 29 deaths reported in the last three months.
The Collector, along with District Medical and Health Officer M. Gopi Nayak and Joint Director of Agriculture A. Sridhar, convened a media conference on Friday in the wake of a series of reports about the outbreak of viral fevers and seasonal diseases.
In the same breadth, Mr. Suresh Kumar warned private medical practitioners of serious consequences if they tried to exploit the patients, subject them to unnecessary diagnostic tests, and admit them in hospitals even if the situation did not warrant such an action.
Even if the patient was found to be having lesser platelet count than the normal range, doctors should not confirm the case as dengue, as such fevers could be confirmed only on the basis of the report of Elisa test, the Collector said.
The test was being done only at the Department of Microbiology, Guntur Medical College, and at Government General Hospital, he said.
Preventive steps were being taken up in villages. Campaigns had been launched to create awareness among people on the need to keep the surroundings clean and consuming clean food and water.
Dr. Nayak urged people to lodge a complaint with the Medical and Health Department if they came across any incidents of exploitation at the hands of private hospitals. He also warned laboratories of severe action if they forced patients to undergo tests.
Five cases
Five suspected dengue cases are being treated in the different hospitals in the city, according to the daily report of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. Of the five patients two belong to areas outside the corporation limits.
The number of malaria cases under treatment in the city hospitals stood at 9.
Municipal Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Azeem ordered the owners of all vacant sites to level them and clear them of weeds and garbage to improve the sanitation and check breeding of mosquitoes. He urged owners, who had not paid the vacant land tax to do the same immediately. The commissioner inspected several residential areas in the city with the Town Planning section staff in tow. Drawing the attention of the VMC staff to some vacant sites that were being used for garbage disposal the Commissioner ordered that action be taken against the site owners.
