Govt establishes round the clock helpline numbers
Minister Vijaya Baskar at a fever ward in ICH, Egmore (File photo)
Chennai:
“In addition, 410 mobile clinics and 770 mobile health camps have been established,” he added. He also instructed the officials concerned to create awareness among the people to visit government hospital immediately in case of fever. It was also instructed to advice the people who suffer from fever not to take medicines on their own. The authorities were told to ensure that medical shops do not supply medicines to the public without a proper prescription given by the doctor.
He said the government has appointed 20,000 trained temporary health workers to find mosquito breeding spots so as to eradicate it at the source. “Similarly, rapid response medical team has also been set up to monitor the kin of the patients, who were living with them in the same house,” the minister said.
According to the minister, 100 government testing laboratories have additionally been established to identify dengue fever through Elisa kit. More than 1,000 cell counter equipment have been supplied to the government hospitals.
At present, medicines worth more than Rs 90 crore have been stocked readily by the government.
Likewise, to the benefit of the health workers, more than 10,000 safety dresses, 33,635 face masks and 3.1 lakh three-layered face masks are made available in the hospitals.
The minister said round the clock control room, carrying telephone number such as 044-24350496, 044-24334811, has been established.
In addition, the control rooms are also equipped with mobile phone numbers, 94443 40496 and 87544 48477.
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Collector pulls up Vellore Central Prison administration
Officials of the Vellore Central Prison were at the receiving end on Thursday when district Collector SA Raman inspected the prison premises as part of the anti-dengue drive and criticised the authorities over the poor upkeep of the facility. Accompanied by officials from the Health department and Vellore Corporation, Raman inspected the wards and rooms of the jail. What irked him was the heaps of garbage containing broken plastic and accumulated water, with mosquitos breeding in them. The team also noticed an unused cement water tank with mosquitos during the inspection. Following this, the Collector directed officials to remove the garbage and clean up the tank immediately, and warned them of initiating action if they failed to do so. Jail officials scurried to carry out the orders.
Issuing a fresh health advisory to tackle dengue and H1N1 virus in the State, Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar on Thursday assured that government has taken several steps including setting up fever wards in all government hospitals to stop the spread of the disease. During a review meeting of the department, the minister said 1,200 medical camps have been organised across the State to control the spread of fever, including seasonal fevers.
“In addition, 410 mobile clinics and 770 mobile health camps have been established,” he added. He also instructed the officials concerned to create awareness among the people to visit government hospital immediately in case of fever. It was also instructed to advice the people who suffer from fever not to take medicines on their own. The authorities were told to ensure that medical shops do not supply medicines to the public without a proper prescription given by the doctor.
He said the government has appointed 20,000 trained temporary health workers to find mosquito breeding spots so as to eradicate it at the source. “Similarly, rapid response medical team has also been set up to monitor the kin of the patients, who were living with them in the same house,” the minister said.
According to the minister, 100 government testing laboratories have additionally been established to identify dengue fever through Elisa kit. More than 1,000 cell counter equipment have been supplied to the government hospitals.
At present, medicines worth more than Rs 90 crore have been stocked readily by the government.
Likewise, to the benefit of the health workers, more than 10,000 safety dresses, 33,635 face masks and 3.1 lakh three-layered face masks are made available in the hospitals.
The minister said round the clock control room, carrying telephone number such as 044-24350496, 044-24334811, has been established.
In addition, the control rooms are also equipped with mobile phone numbers, 94443 40496 and 87544 48477.
----
Collector pulls up Vellore Central Prison administration
Officials of the Vellore Central Prison were at the receiving end on Thursday when district Collector SA Raman inspected the prison premises as part of the anti-dengue drive and criticised the authorities over the poor upkeep of the facility. Accompanied by officials from the Health department and Vellore Corporation, Raman inspected the wards and rooms of the jail. What irked him was the heaps of garbage containing broken plastic and accumulated water, with mosquitos breeding in them. The team also noticed an unused cement water tank with mosquitos during the inspection. Following this, the Collector directed officials to remove the garbage and clean up the tank immediately, and warned them of initiating action if they failed to do so. Jail officials scurried to carry out the orders.
4 die of H1N1; 4 others due to fever ailments
Despite claims by the State government that there is a decline in the incidence of flu, four people died of H1N1 in the State on Thursday. Two from Madurai, a man from Coimbatore and another from Kanyakumari succumbed to flu. Also, four died due to other fever-related ailments.
Two patients, who were admitted to the Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital, died of swine flu on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Arun (32) of Virudhunagar and Jeevitha (19), wife of Alaguraja from Natham, Dindigul. Sources said Arun was admitted to the hospital 15 days ago with fever. However, he died around 2.30 am. Jeevitha was admitted on November 5 with a running temperature. She succumbed to H1N1 at 8.30 am on Thursday, sources said.
The Dean of Madurai Government Medical College, D Maruthupandian, said eight patients diagnosed with swine flu had died during the past forty days. However, no dengue death has been reported so far. Adequate medicines to treat patients affected by H1N1 virus and dengue had been kept in the hospital, the Dean said.
In Coimbatore, a 52-year-old man succumbed to swine flu and two others to viral fever at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) in the past 24 hours.
Muthukumar (52) from Podanur was down with a severe fever a few days ago. After taking treatment at a private hospital he was later referred to the CMCH, where he was diagnosed with Swine flu. Despite undergoing intensive care in the hospital, he died in the early hours on Thursday.
In another incident, Muthusamy (62), a retired bank employee from Thindal in Erode district, was admitted to a private hospital with a fever. As his condition worsened, Muthusamy was brought to CMCH, however, he died on Thursday. Doctors said that they would know the cause of his death only on receiving the blood test report. Similarly, Saravanan, 40, from Rayarpalayam, near Karumathampatti, died on Wednesday night due to suspected brain fever.
More than 30 people have died of swine flu, dengue and other viral flu at CMCH and private hospitals in the past two months in Coimbatore alone.
A total of 97 people, including nine with swine flu, four with dengue and 84 with viral fevers, are undergoing treatment at CMCH.
In Kanyakumari district, Sakria (50) of Puthupalli, Thiruvithancode, who had a high fever, died of swine flu on Thursday. Earlier, he took treatment in a private clinic, which tested him positive for swine flu. With this, the death toll of swine flu in the district had risen to four, sources said.
In Dindigul district, two patients died of mysterious fever at 8.40 am on Thursday. According to sources in the Health Department, such deaths were neither caused by swine flu nor dengue.