New enemies force Covid battle on the backfoot

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Covid-19 cases declining and Thiruvananthapuram district hitting the plateau after nearly 10 months of relentless fight against the pandemic, the district health authorities have started re-deploying the health care workers back to their core responsibilities. The decision comes in the wake of spurt in vector-borne diseases and other epidemic diseases. Recently, around nine leptospirosis deaths were reported in the district setting the alarm bells ringing for the authorities. 

According to health authorities, there has been a rise in leptospirosis cases in the district with 154 confirmed cases reported this year. Eight out of the total 23 leptospirosis deaths (which includes both suspected and confirmed) reported in the district happened during the past 5 to 6 weeks. 

According to health authorities, it has been nearly 10 months since all non-Covid-19 activities came to a grinding halt following the pandemic outbreak. An official said the deaths could have been prevented if the patients had received proper medical care on time. The Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital has been upgraded into a second line treatment centre and non-Covid-19 patients are not getting treated there. Reluctance to go to hospitals with the fear of contracting the Covid-19 is one of the reasons cited for the spike in deaths. 

“The delay in the administration of Doxycycline for suspected cases was noted as one of the reasons. Cases were reported mainly among people with occupational hazards - vegetable vendors, sewage workers, daily wage earners and construction workers etc. Our effort is to reach out to these groups and administer them preventive medicines,” said an official.  The department is gearing up to launch mass awareness campaigns and ‘doxy day’ campaign to tackle the spread of the illness.

It is learnt the district is lagging behind immunisation drives, and according to authorities its high time the department starts focusing on these issues.District Medical Officer K S Shinu said for the past nine months the entire health care system was fully engaged in the containment of the pandemic Covid-19 and all other routine and key responsibilities, including the operations of NCD (non-communicable diseases) clinics, pre-monsoon sanitation drives and mosquito control measures were hit hard. 

“The pre-monsoon sanitation drives didn’t happen because of the pandemic. It was impossible to focus on these areas which is otherwise very crucial to keep in check other communicable diseases. More chikungunya cases are getting reported. Hence we have re-deployed our workers to their routine responsibilities,” Shinu said.