Rising fever cases trigger fear of dengue

Chennai: Fever cases are spreading panic among the public, with any prolonged fever cases being assumed to be dengue fever.

Though health officials strongly ruled out any dengue related outbreak, sanitary department of Tambaram municipality undertook a mass cleanliness campaign and door-to-door breeding check in Ward 27 of the Tambaram municipality on Tuesday.

Two IT professionals residing in Selliamman Koil Street in Irumbuliyur in East Tambaram were rumored to have been admitted to Tambaram Taluk government hospital in Chrompet due to dengue fever. However, the hospital authorities denied any dengue case and said that only one of them was reported suffering from fever, while they were wrongly termed to be suffering from dengue.

‘The patient suffering from fever is from a southern district in Tamil Nadu. On his request to get treated for fever in his hometown, he was sent home. The initial checks did not report possibility of dengue,” said hospital authorities. However, residents remained in a state of panic since the incident.

On being acquainted with the rumor on dengue cases in the neighbourhood, sanitary department personnel headed by Tambaram municipality sanitary officer cleaned the locality, drains and also carried out breeding check in every household.

“We inspected water tanks, refrigerators, coconut shells and other containers that could possibly be a site of dengue mosquito breeding inside the house. A door-to-door breeding check along with spreading awareness on preventing mosquito breeding was held. Though dengue cases were not reported, we took a precautionary measure to being down the fear of dengue among the residents,” said a senior official of  sanitary department, Tambaram municipality.

When contacted, public health director Dr K. Kolandaisamy said that though few cases are being reported in the state, there is no dengue outbreak and the situation is under control. State has so far reported 1,451 cases of dengue and one death due to the same till April 29 this year as per the data published by National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme.