Isolated ward at Medical College Hospital for diphtheria patients

KOZHIKODE: As diphtheria fears spread faster than the disease in Malabar, the Government Medical College Hospital here is preparing to face the situation with a separate ward at its super speciality block. The new block will be operational today on the fifth floor of the building, said superintendent-in-charge Dr K.C. Soman. He said this was the first time that the hospital was starting a diphtheria ward.

“The new ward will have 50 beds and Dr Sheela Mathew will be the in-charge. The state government immediately granted the appointment of six nurses and three attenders particularly for this ward. The beds can be increased in the future if needed,” Dr Soman said.

There were already 46 cases of diphtheria reported at the hospital and 11 at the IMCH. There were reports that the Td adult vaccine doses were not available in the market. However, principal V.P. Sasidharan said that the supply and dosage were not an issue at the hospital, and they were equipped to bring more doses when the situation demands. Community medicine associate professor Dr T. Jayakrishnan said there should be certain checks to test the quality of the vaccines.

“After the pentavalent vaccines replaced the DPT vaccines, the quality of the vaccines might have come down. The state should have antibody level test conducted in its selected areas. Vaccination should be made mandatory at schools at the age of 10 to 15, and not just at five, as we practise now,” Dr Jayakrishnan said. He added that 90 percent of the population are carriers of the disease in the throat, but that may not make the person ill. Doctors can also advise people having throat infection to use a mask to avoid spreading the disease.