The dog days of summer are gone, and scattered showers that the State has experienced have once again created ideal conditions for the breeding of disease-causing vectors. While nature has created the perfect set of circumstances in which the dengue-causing Aedes aegypti mosquito can lay its eggs, the situation is well under control, say officials.
Though the figures for Tamil Nadu are at 3,000 odd cases in 2013, the State has slipped down from over 12,000 cases last year. “We have fever cases coming in because of the rains, but even this number is much less than the seasonal incidence,” J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, says. Fever cases are expected to go up with the onset of rains, and this time, the number of cases (laboratory tests and hospital admissions) is lesser than the usual for the season.
“Fever trends are in the range of about 3,000 cases compared to about 6,000 cases last year,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said. In fact, the bulk of the 3,016 cases are from January and February, at the spill over from last year’s epidemic. There are, however, pockets where the number of cases has been higher than the surrounding areas, including border areas adjoining Kerala and Karnataka.
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The Public Health department is keeping tabs on laboratory tests for all infectious conditions, and all cases of fever and diarrhoea admitted to hospitals, officials explain. The private sector has also been asked to report all such cases as soon as they come in.
If suspected cases are reported, a public health team will be rushed to the area to investigate and carry out preventive measures in the instances that positive cases are confirmed. Preventive measures include emptying containers that tend to collect rain water, including tyres, pots, air conditioners, and vases.