As many as 1,840 viral fever cases were reported from various government hospitals in the district on Wednesday. According to Health Department sources, this is the largest number of viral fever cases reported in the district on a single day in the past five months.
Two persons suffering from viral fever died on Wednesday. Girija, 43, of Thengamom near Adoor, who had been undergoing treatment for dengue and jaundice at Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, for the past six days, died on Wednesday. Another woman, Sonu Joseph, 33, of Niranom, afflicted with viral fever, reportedly died on her way to hospital in the forenoon.
Dengue cases
Though the official records put the total dengue fever casualty in the district during the past two months at four, unofficial data, that included cases reported at various private hospitals, put the toll at 21.
Saiju Hameed, Deputy District Medical Officer for communicable diseases, told The Hindu that 11,970 patients visited the out-patient wards of various government hospitals in the district on Wednesday, and 1,840 of them were suffering from viral fever.
Dr. Hameed said there were four confirmed dengue cases and four suspected cases of dengue on Wednesday. He said the number of clinically confirmed dengue cases reported at the government hospitals in the district during the past two months was 230 and the number of suspected dengue cases was 495.
As per the official data, 42 dengue cases were reported from the government hospitals in the past 11 days.
The sources said Enadimangalam block, from where 73 confirmed dengue cases and 154 suspected cases were reported on Wednesday, was the worst-affected area in the district.
Despite the intensive vector-control and fever-prevention campaigns initiated by the Health Department in the district, the number of fever patients visiting the government hospitals is on the rise. The vector-borne disease is fast spreading in the hilly tracts of Konni, Ranni, and Mallappally. It is alleged that the local self-government institutions are yet to take safe waste-disposal and effective mosquito-control initiatives.
