Heavy rains across the State have brought in their wake a viral trail, particularly dengue which has sent people scurrying to hospitals. While poor sanitation is rightly blamed for the scourge, the frequent changes in climate have exacerbated the situation. So much so, a large number of people are getting admitted to hospitals with fevers, mostly dengue which is a notifiable disease, haemorrhages, and malaria and typhoid to a lesser extent.
Though the Public Health Department is doing its bit to curb the menace, the continuous wet spell is outsmarting their efforts causing the fevers
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Indian Medical Association-Vijayawada president T.V. Ramana Murthy said conditions on the streets were appalling with absolute lack of cleanliness, and the government should have prepared for the outbreak of vector-borne diseases which were common this time of the year.
Speaking to The Hindu , he observed that if a fever case was to be labelled as dengue, it should be referred to the government hospitals as it was a ‘notifiable disease’. However, people going to private hospitals were being treated on the basis of platelet count and other symptoms.
"Once confirmed as suffering from dengue at private hospitals, most people would be reluctant to go to government hospitals for obvious reasons. Basically, treatment of dengue takes quite some time at any hospital," he said, blaming the absence of underground drains for the poor sanitation.
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G. Krishna Murthy, Principal of ASRAM Medical College at Eluru in West Godavari district said if a viral fever was persistent (for more than four or five days) and the patient has severe body pains and other symptoms, the chances of it being dengue were pretty high and there were also haemorrhagic fevers all around.
Self-limiting infections
The occurrence of respiratory viral diseases would be more during the monsoon and if there was plenty of stagnant water, the situation worsens. He pointed out that in most cases, the infections were self-limiting i.e. they would be subtle and subside in a few days, but one should always be alert to the possibility of a second attack which could be fatal.
"When a person is afflicted with fever, it would be safe to get NS-1 antigen screening done which was rapid testing compared to antibody tests. The antigen testing facilities were available in both the government and private hospitals," said Dr. Murthy
‘Avoid OTC drugs’
Over-the-counter drugs should be strictly avoided lest the patient’s condition should deteriorate. In fact, there was a long list of viral haemorrhagic fevers and dengue was obviously more than common than the others due to poor sanitation. There were some dengue-endemic areas where the disease takes a heavy toll, Dr. Murthy observed.
According to a senior official in the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare, apart from dengue, malaria was also widely reported, and necessary action was being taken to control these seasonal ailments.