KR New Desk
Srinagar Oct 20:
At least 3446 dengue cases have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir as Bhupinder Kumar (IAS), Secretary to Government Health and Medical Education Department conducted a detailed review regarding dengue status and containment initiatives in J&K.
A detailed presentation regarding dengue status and containment initiatives was presented by the Epidemiologist and State Malariologist, J&K.
As of date, 3446 cases of dengue are confirmed against 11909 suspect cases, a government spokesperson said.
What is Dengue?
Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus) mosquito. Almost half of the world’s population, about 4 billion people, live in areas with a risk of dengue. Dengue is often a leading cause of illness in areas with risk.
Areas with Risk of Dengue
Dengue outbreaks are occurring in many countries of the world. Protect yourself from mosquito bites.
New Dengue Vaccine
A new dengue vaccine is approved for use in children aged 9 to 16 years with laboratory-confirmed previous dengue virus infection and living in areas where dengue is endemic (common). Endemic areas include some U.S. territories and freely associated states. The vaccine is not approved for use in U.S. travellers who are visiting but not living in an area where dengue is common.
Health and Medical Education Department is working very hard for containment and providing quality care services for dengue-positive cases being treated at home as well as in health institutions.
It was informed that fever clinics are being run in GMC Jammu and other Hospitals for diagnoses and treatment of suspected dengue cases.
In addition, regular spraying and fogging are being carried out at all the dengue-positive houses in Jammu Division. Regular calling of Dengue-positive patients is being done by 104 Call Center (Health Help Line) being run by National Health Mission J&K.
It was discussed in the meeting that cleanliness in the residential areas is of utmost importance to check the menace of mosquito breeding.
Municipal Commissioner Jammu informed about the various intervention being carried out to check mosquito breeding.
The teams are deployed for thermal fogging in all the municipal wards on a rotation basis. It was decided that autos deployed by the municipality for garbage collection must play Jingles/audio messages regarding dengue awareness. The chair directed these autos must do miking at least three times a day in all the urban areas with a focus on hotspot areas (Rehari, Sarwal, Janipur and Paloura). The public in general must ensure no collection of water in unattended containers lying on the rooftops like tins, plastic bottles, tyres, bird pots, coolers, and water tanks without lids.
It was decided that RBSK teams and School Health teams will be deployed in the Hotspot areas of Jammu Urban for imparting preventive measures and Health Education in collaboration with the Community Medicine Department of GMC Jammu. In view of the increasing trend of Dengue Positive patients, he directed CMOs of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Reasi, and Udhampur to make available a sufficient number of functional beds and all essential medicines and consumables available for dengue cases. It was also informed that the department is well equipped for Platelets transfusion as recently one more component Lab was established in Govt. Hospital Gandhi Nagar, Jammu in addition to the existing component Lab of GMC Jammu.
