The people of the district, those in the eastern mandals in particular, never expected that the dreaded dengue would not only surface in their villages but also linger for long to claim over 50 lives between April and October, 2017.
Sporadic cases were a cause for concern early this year. But the situation turned alarming when a boy at Timmasamudram village of the K.V.B. Puram mandal called then Collector Siddartha Jain in April and informed him that the disease had claimed four lives in his village and over 50 families were reeling under its impact, with several of them rushing to hospitals in Chennai as the government hospitals in the rural areas were not taking the epidemic seriously.
The Collector swung into action and special camps had been organised for two weeks to bring the situation under control.
This episode had exposed the vulnerability of the rural areas of the district to viral fevers with poor sanitation all over.
Awareness campaigns
Officials later organised awareness campaigns in the rural areas advising people to ensure there was no water stagnation. People suffering from febrile illness were advised against approaching quacks and private clinics.
After a lull of one month, dengue returned to the eastern mandals in June with fresh cases surfacing in the K.V.B. Puram mandal.
A majority of the families in Timmasamudram and nearby Perindesam village are either owners or lorry drivers in private transport division, it had a telling effect on their livelihood since a month with bread earners confined to beds.
The disturbing phenomenon, which remained limited to a radius of five kilometers in the KVB Puram mandal, started spreading gradually to neighbouring mandals. A number of patients were admitted to various private hospitals in Tirupati from March onward, complaining that the medical or paramedical staff of government hospitals in the rural areas stayed away from the public health aspect. The villagers deplored that the official hand came in only when things had turned worst with casualties. Allegations that though the staff had collected the blood samples from the patients suspected of dengue, there was no proper follow-up. Lack of coordination between the panchayat raj and medical and health department remained the buzzword.
Dengue prevalence took a very serious turn when a number of villages in Satyavedu and Varadaiahpalem mandals came under its impact from June onwards. From September 1 till October, the officials had put the figure of casualties more than 20 from the belt. The threat of yellow fever had surfaced in October, and there was no respite in the number of families complaining of mysterious fevers rushing to various hospitals in Chennai, Nellore and Vellore.
The impact was such that a six-member team of medical experts from New Delhi rushed to Varadaiahpalem mandal on October 27 and made a whirlwind inspection tour of Battalavallam, Karipakkam, Rachakandriga, Chinna Pandur and Pulivallam villages, and conducted an in-depth study of 10 casualty cases, due to suspect dengue and viral fevers since September first week. The World Health Organization (WHO) officials from Geneva also expressed concern at the suspected prevalence of yellow fever, and remained in touch with the district administration.
The intervention of the higher officials led to a sanitation drive in the vulnerable villages on a war-footing, besides collection of blood samples from the vulnerable villages, and gathering the mosquitoes for entomological investigations.
The dengue threat slowly started withdrawing from the first week of November and disappeared by month end.
Official suspended
On October 11, senior Medical Officer of Chinnapanduru Primary Health Center (PHC) in Varadaiahpalem mandal was suspended by Collector PS Pradyumna. She faced charges of dereliction of duty, not informing the superiors about the alarming trend of dengue and that she had not responded to public requests for holding medical camps. However, she was reinstated a couple of weeks ago in Tirupati belt.
The PHC at Chinnapanduru village is handled by a single medical officer as against the regular strength of four; with absolutely no presence of staff nurses or ANMs. The lone doctor claimed that she also had to function as a computer operator, supervisor and pharmacist.
On October 23, the district administration received a jolt when Former Union Minister and a doctor himself Chinta Mohan visited half a dozen villages in Varadaiahpalem mandal, vulnerable to febrile illness and issuing a statement that the people there were suffering from symptoms of "Yellow Fever," attributing the reason to the arrivals of foreign nationals to the nearby industrial zone and a devotional organization.
On October 27, a six-member team of medical experts from various Central government institutions from New Delhi, Tiruvananthapuram, Kolkata and Hyderabad air-dashed to Renigunta and Chennai and rushed to Varadaiahpalem mandal. The team conducted an in-depth study of as many as ten casualty cases during the four day visit. Blood samples of patients and mosquitoes were collected from the villages for advanced diagnosis at Central research institutions.
