‘Step up epidemic control measures’

Thiruvananthapuram: Health minister Veena George urged all district administrations and district health administrations to strengthen the epidemic control measures in the wake of intermittent rains. The minister said the rain could spread diseases like dengue fever and leptospirosis.
In a meeting of all district medical officers and other health officials, the minister urged them to closely monitor the camps used by guest workers. The state-level monitoring committee has also been asked to strengthen the activities.
The minister said in the meeting that more dengue cases are being reported from Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kasaragod and Thrissur. Leptospirosis cases are being reported from Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam,Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram, Kottayam, Kasaragod, Wayanad and Kozhikode.
More Shigella cases have been reported from Kozhikode. Apart from this, malaria, cholera, chikungunya and H1N1 are also being reported in small numbers. Hence, the district administrations have been asked to keep a close tab on the increasing cases from any region. The minister has urged to enforce strict containment measures if any sporadic increase in cases are reported from any region.