Government hospitals not recording dengue cases
The Telangana health department has listed the number of cases in all districts in August as only 99
Hyderabad: Despite the large number of patients in government hospitals, district medical and health officers are not recording dengue cases.
The Telangana health department has listed the number of cases in all districts in August as only 99, but both the government and private doctors say that it can’t be so. Similarly in Andhra Pradesh, the number of cases has been listed as 59, which is also raising a lot of doubts.
A senior government officer said, “There are four types of dengue virus but the health officers insist on noting only those where the symptoms are severe and treatment is prolonged. What they fail to understand is that we need to tackle the mosquito menace by educating people to take preventive steps. In a bid to show less numbers, this whole effort gets diluted.”
This exercise ensures that epidemiologists visit the locality and check the situation at the ground level. When the numbers are not reported correctly, the exercise is done away with.
Meanwhile, director of health and medical education, Telangana, Dr M. Ramani, said, “We are finding a lot of viral cases being referred to as dengue, hence there is a hitch in accepting all the reports of private hospitals. But the government is alert and we are looking into the situation. Health officers have been asked to move around in the critical areas of the city and ensure that awareness messages are spread.
“Community workers, medical students and other health workers are also being enrolled to ensure that the message of awareness and prevention spreads among the people,” the health director