Indian Express 04.06.2010
Civic body, hospitals gear up to fight dengue, malaria, gastroentritis
Anuradha Mascarenhas Tags : Dengue, Malaria, gastroentritis Posted: Fri Jun 04 2010, 01:26 hrs
Pune: With the city having buckled under a volley of diseases during the last monsoon, particularly swine flu, the civic authorities are keeping their fingers crossed.While the health department registered a total of 240 swine flu deaths, officials at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune Municipal Corporation and Sassoon General Hospital said it is still a wait-and-watch period. People have been exposed to the virus and so far there is no sign of any significant mutation. However, the transmission is still under way, said Dr M S Chadda, Deputy Director of NIV.
Dr R R Pardeshi, chief of medical services at PMC, said there are a fewer cases of swine flu coming in. “Still we will keep our screening centres functional, set up 120 beds at Naidu Hospital and have instructed private hospitals to report cases to PMC,” he said.
People are also suffering from dengue and malaria, especially in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Dr Milind Jawale, Medical Officer, national health programmes in Pimpri Chinchwad, said there were 616 cases of malaria from January till December last year and till May this year 128 patients have been treated for malaria. Dengue fever was recorded among 679 patients last year and till May this year there have been 34 cases.
Dr Sadashiv Patole, in-charge of the insect control department at the PMC, has started ‘gate meetings’ at cooperative societies to prevent dengue and malaria. He said there were 170 cases of dengue and 137 of malaria in the city last year. This year till April, there have been 14 cases of dengue and 40 cases of malaria. As part of our preparedness campaign, we have put up banners in the city and tried to inform citizens via the electronic media to refrain from storing water for more than five days at their homes, he said.
Even as dengue and malaria have become endemic to the city, Dr Rajesh Gadia, consulting physician, KEM Hospital, said diseases like gastroentritis, cholera, jaundice, typhoid, diahorrea and dysentry are common during the monsoon.
“We have also started getting cases of chikungunya from Hadapsar,” said Gadia. Seasonal influenza and monsoon related diseases are bound to increase during the rains and the only way to avoid viral attacks is to be prepared, said Dr Pallavi Bhargava, infectious diseases specialist. “We examined as many as 369 dengue patients at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital last year,” said Bhargava.
According to Dr S T Pardeshi, Assistant Medical Officer of Health, PMC, there were 458 cases of gastroentritis and 108 of diahorrea in PMC limits last year.
Doctors and hospital administrators have also had their hands full at Sassoon Hospital.
“We saw 191 cases of dengue (10 deaths), 28 of acute hepatitis (5 deaths), 45 cases of typhoid and 259 of malaria (17 deaths), said Dr P S Pawar, medical superintendent.
The count
Pimpri (till May this year)
Dengue: 34
Malaria: 128
Pune (till April)
Dengue: 14
Malaria: 40
