Dengue cases heavily under-reported

Hyderabad: Though 815 dengue cases have been reported in September in Telangana, senior doctors claim that the real number is 300 times more than the official numbers.

This, they say, is because many cases are not registered as private hospitals do not notify the government or the government is not willing to register the cases.

A senior government officer said, “It’s a fact. The government is not willing to show such huge numbers as they are scared that it will create panic. Hence the numbers are downplayed. But the fact remains that there is an increase in the number of cases every three years. This three-year cycle needs to be studied. Accordingly, arrangements to prevent it have to be made.”

The number of cases in TS from January to September has touched 1,815. The increasing cases have also led to residents complaining to their Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation office against others who are spilling too much water on roads or in their gardens and allowing it to accumulate.

Manju Mehta, a senior citizen from Malkajgiri said, “There were some residents who washed their homes everyday and the water was spilt on the roads. With the dengue menace spreading, they were not ready to listen; society members had warned them thrice but to no effect. We then had to complain to the municipal authorities, and the epidemiology wing along with health officials counseled them.

“Similar problems were even seen in Netaji Nagar at Kapra where residents were not willing to listen and the epidemiology wing of Kapra and Yapral had to do spray the puddles weekly.”

While these proactive steps can help, all residents have been told to not throw fresh water on roads and allow it to form puddles as it becomes an immediate breeding ground for mosquitoes outside their homes.

Caripill tablets economical for dengue

As part of a larger clinical study of Caripill tablets, doctors at OGH and Gandhi Hospital are treating patients with it when their platelet count goes down due to dengue.

The tablets were approved by ministry of Ayush in 2012 and are a botanical extract from carica papaya leaf. Dr K. Prabhu said, “Caripill is found to be effective in five days of treatment in improving the platelet count. It can be given to dengue patients, if it is found that the platelets are going down. The treatment has proved to be effective and also helps a lot of poor patients and saves cost.”

With the 1,100 mg tablets now available, the doctors at nursing homes are opting for it as it is cheaper and also reduces the cost of treatment considerably.

Dr L. Raju Kumar, a senior physician said, “We have 15 new patients every day. Of them five require this medicine to improve their platelet count. The tablets are given for five days and the recovery is good. This shows that we can do away with the conventional treatment which is very costly and also time-consuming.”

Platelet transfusion per unit costs Rs 20,000 and in some cases 10 units are required which is a very costly form of treatment and out of reach of many people.

But earlier papaya leaf extracts were tried in hospitals and they showed results in improvement and now with the availability of the tablet there is a confidence building up to deal with the severity of the disease.