The Health Department has decided to appoint over 47 urban health volunteers (UHVs) to contain the spread of dengue and other vector-borne diseases in the district.
Chidambar, District Vector-Borne Diseases Officer, told The Hindu on Sunday that over 47 urban health volunteers who have passed the health inspectors’ course, will be recruited on a temporary basis and deployed to three taluks where there is a high incidence of dengue and other fever cases. The UHVs will be hired under the National health mission. Initially, their services will be availed for three months from July, he said.
The selection of UHVs will be over by Monday. They will be given a three-day training. The UHVs will visit all the houses in a locality and identify people suffering from fever for more than three days. If there are large number of people suffering from fever for more than three days, the UHVs will not only inform the higher ups in the health department but also shift the people to the government hospital nearby and sensitise the public about the disease, Mr. Chidambar said. They will also conduct surveillance and search for mosquito larvae in these localities. The UHVs will take steps to eradicate mosquito breeding in the entire areas.
Of the 47 UHVs, 43 will be deployed in Mysuru city, two each will be deployed at Hunsuru town and Nanjangudu where a large number of dengue suspected cases have been reported of late. The department has already formed rapid response teams and deployed them in many places like Mahadevapura in Mysuru taluk to fight dengue. The Health Department is finding it hard to fight dengue with the existing staff and hence took permission to deploy UHVs.
Three more die
Meanwhile three more persons died in fever-related incidents in Mysuru district in the past week. With this total number of deaths owing to fever-related cases is 16. The department has provided instructions to medical officers who had treated the three deceased. Soon, the district death audit committee would meet once more to assess the exact cause for the deaths, Mr.Chidambar said.
Blood tests of over 2,080 people have been conducted so far in the district in the past two and half months. Of these, 347 were found to be dengue positive.
