PUNE: The unprecedented surge in the number of dengue cases in the city has put the civic health officials in a fix.
In a bid to save face, the health officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are now identifying dengue-infected patients who live outside the city but have taken treatment in hospitals here.
"So far, we have been able to find 44 confirmed dengue patients who are not local residents but who were treated in hospitals here. We located them after scrutinising the patients' list obtained from five of the 15 municipal ward offices in the city .They were either referred to or sought treatment at hospitals in the city," said Kalpana Baliwant, head of the insect control department of the PMC.
Of the 44 "outside" patients, most were hospitalised at the civic-run Kamala Nehru Hospital, Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital or the state-run Sassoon General Hospital.
"Their blood samples had tested positive at the designated sentinel centres of these three hospitals. But since they are not from the city , it would be wrong to include them in the dengue tally ," Baliwant said.
Similar is the case with swine flu. An analysis has revealed that around 70% of the patients who succumbed to virusinduced complications this year in city hospitals were not local residents, but had been referred here from adjoining areas for tertiary care treatment.This means most swine flu patients did not catch the infection in the city limits.
Health activists, however, said the civic health officials should focus more on control measures. "PMC should focus on controlling the dengue-causing mosquitoes, which are everywhere." activist Sanjay Dabhade said.
In a bid to save face, the health officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are now identifying dengue-infected patients who live outside the city but have taken treatment in hospitals here.
"So far, we have been able to find 44 confirmed dengue patients who are not local residents but who were treated in hospitals here. We located them after scrutinising the patients' list obtained from five of the 15 municipal ward offices in the city .They were either referred to or sought treatment at hospitals in the city," said Kalpana Baliwant, head of the insect control department of the PMC.
Of the 44 "outside" patients, most were hospitalised at the civic-run Kamala Nehru Hospital, Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital or the state-run Sassoon General Hospital.
"Their blood samples had tested positive at the designated sentinel centres of these three hospitals. But since they are not from the city , it would be wrong to include them in the dengue tally ," Baliwant said.
Similar is the case with swine flu. An analysis has revealed that around 70% of the patients who succumbed to virusinduced complications this year in city hospitals were not local residents, but had been referred here from adjoining areas for tertiary care treatment.This means most swine flu patients did not catch the infection in the city limits.
Health activists, however, said the civic health officials should focus more on control measures. "PMC should focus on controlling the dengue-causing mosquitoes, which are everywhere." activist Sanjay Dabhade said.
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