Dengue cases surge in Guntur city

Guntur: There is an increase of dengue fever cases in Guntur district. The private hospitals and laboratories were directed to inform about the dengue cases to the government without fail.

According to reports, nearly 3,000 people are suffering from dengue in the district but the officials are claiming only 17 dengue cases and 166 suspected dengue cases were so far registered.

A girl died of dengue fever at Yerrabalem in the Amaravati capital region and the public are seeking continuation of health drive in all areas. The district administration directed doctors to conduct required diagnoses procedure before declaring a patient is suffering from dengue fever. Besides this, the area hospitals and primary health care centres are referring the patients to the GGH at Guntur which is increasing burden on the doctors and staff.

Rain started two weeks ago in a majority of the areas in the district and it worsened the sanitation condition due to improper clearance of garbage piles, stagnated drains and surge of mosquitoes. The district officials have identified 44 high-risk areas in the district spreading dengue and malaria of which 14 slum areas are in Guntur city.

The locals of Navabharathnagar, S. Nagesh and others lamented that the side drains are stagnating frequently and littering of the streets became common in the city which is causing fevers to the public, mainly children, the elderly and women. They added that private hospitals are frightening the patients in the name of dengue fever. So, the government should conduct free medical camps to clear the doubts about dengue and viral fevers.

Dr K. Rajendrakumar of the Government Fever Hospital said that platelets would decrease in the patients suffering from any fever. So, the public should not worry about the platelet count. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test is available in the GGH for the public.