Fever threat looms over Prakasam 

Hospitals and health centres in Ongole and rural areas witness spike in fever cases  
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

ONGOLE: Over 100 hospitals and clinics in the city have been experiencing the heavy rush of fever patients from rural areas of the district since the last few days. The situation at health centres in Darsi, Cheemakurthy, SN Padu, Markapur, Giddaluru, Addanki and PC Palli areas is similar. Though the district medical and health officials denied the high occurrence of fevers, the real picture was quite different. Since January, around 40 dengue cases were identified across the district.

Only over the last couple of months, 18 dengue cases were registered in the district. Though the number of fever cases was low in 2018, this year the district has seen a significant spike in the figure, especially from the low-lying areas. After the recent rains, most of the drains and streams were overflowing, resulting in stagnation of water and rise in breeding points of mosquitoes. Due to this, chances of people contracting diseases from mosquito bites have increased manifold and fever cases were rampant in the district.  

Meanwhile, the gram panchayats and civic bodies have intensified measures to control the mosquito population by spraying malathion, kerosene, Gambusea Fish larvae, phenol balls, along with regular fogging.  Meanwhile, private diagnostic centres were cashing on the opportunity and collecting higher amounts for tests for diagnosis of low platelet count, malaria, typhoid, chicken guinea and dengue. 

On Wednesday, Dr B Vinod Kumar, District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO), visited two patients, who were reportedly diagnosed with dengue. “I have visited the two persons personally and their health condition is good. As of now, there is no epidemic situation across the district and our staff are doing daily mosquito breeding control works as well as taking measures to curb the mosquito population,” he said. 
“In fact, as per the report by our field staff, there isn’t any alarming situation regarding the fevers. As the district witnessed good rains this season, all areas experienced water stagnation.”

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