Chikungunya has hit Annechakanahalli in Holenarasipur taluk of Hassan district, but sadly, the taluk health officer seems simply unaware of it.
The officer, Dr. Rajesh, told The Hindu that he was not aware of the attacks in the village despite them occurring a month ago. The village comes under the Doddakadanuru Primary Health Centre (PHC).
The medical officer of the centre, Dr. Sidde Gowda, has not yet visited the affected village. The people of the village said chikungunya had hit more than 300 people.
They told The Hindu on Saturday that some time ago, they went to the Doddakadanuru PHC with symptoms of chikungunya, but the medical officer just gave them back. Within one month, the entire village was affected by the disease.
They complained that at the PHC, they were asked to pay Rs. 2 for a needle and Rs. 80 for glucose saline.
They have demanded action against the officers. But Dr. Rajesh said he had not received any complaints in this regard.
He said he got to know about this only on Friday and had directed Dr. Sidde Gowda to visit the village on Saturday. However, Dr. Sidde Gowda said he had treated all the cases.
The people of the village said there was an overhead tank in the village which had not been cleaned and that they were getting contaminated water.
Ramakrishne Gowda, a resident, said he and three others in his house had been affected by chikungunya. Rangaiah (55), another resident, died of Chikungunya a week ago but even then, doctors did not bother to visit the village. Malle Gowda said that in his house three persons were down with chikungunya. .
Another villager, Shantaraju, said that since one month, he was taking several people from the village to the Doddakadanuru PHC for treatment.
When contacted, District Health Officer Thimmappa said that on Friday, zilla panchayat chief executive officer M.R. Balakrishna convened a meeting in this regard and sent medicines to the village. He said action would be taken against the local medical officers for dereliction of duty.
