Saturday, 07 May | PNS | Dehradun
The state health department has started preparation for dealing with the menace of dengue in Uttarakhand. On Friday the secretary health Radhika Jha took a meeting of the officers of her department on prevention of dengue in the state. In the meeting she said that all preventive measures for the disease should be taken before the mosquitoes responsible for the disease thrive.
Dengue is a notifiable disease under the Uttarakhand epidemic disease act 2021 under which all the government and private hospitals should compulsorily inform about the infected and suspected patients of the disease to the health department.
In the meeting the health secretary said that other departments should also be made responsible for preventing the disease. She said that letters should be sent to the education, transport, urban and rural development, irrigation, drinking water, tourism, agriculture, disaster management, women empowerment, Panchayati Raj and meteorology departments for support in dengue prevention measures. Jha also directed all the district magistrates to take all the necessary steps for prevention of the disease and release an advisory to all the departments concerned. She said that one nodal officer should be nominated in every department and he should be made personally accountable for the necessary cooperation of the department concerned.
Jha directed the director general (DG) state health services to ensure that isolation wards for dengue are prepared in all government hospitals and arrangements for doctors, nursing staff and medicines are made. She said that all the dengue test centres should have Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits and adequate availability of platelets should remain in the blood banks. Jha said that the officers of both plain and mountainous districts should remain equally alert for the disease.
Dengue
Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito. The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decreases drastically which may prove fatal for the patient. In Uttarakhand the disease is more prevalent in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Ways to prevent Dengue
1 Don’t allow water to collect in and near houses.
2 Regularly decant fridges, coolers, pots or cans.
3 Spread kerosene or any other oil on the small water bodies to destroy the larvae of the Aedes mosquito.
4 Inform the district authorities for fogging to kill mosquitoes.
5 Since Aedes strikes during day time and flies near ground level so wear full sleeved clothes at work places.
6 Immediately seek medical advice when someone develops fever.
