Guwahati, Nov 7: The Assam health department has taken proactive measures amidst a surge in dengue cases in Karbi Anglong and some other districts of the state of late.
According to official reports, as many as 285 dengue positive cases have been detected in the state between November 1 and 5, 2022, with Karbi Anglong reporting 271 cases during the period.
On the other hand, Kamrup Metropolitan district reported eight cases, Nalbari two while one each case has been reported from Charaideo, Kamrup Rural, Nagaon and Hojai districts.
In this regard, various activities, such as awareness meetings in schools and municipal wards, fogging, activities, house to house visits, leaflet distribution, display of banners, hoardings in prominent locations and announcement through public address systems, have been undertaken by teams in the endemic districts to mitigate the spread of the disease.
Officials of the National Health Mission, Assam, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme have already visited the affected areas in Karbi Anglong to take stock of the situation and to provide all the necessary support to the district team to control the outbreak.
A review meeting on the dengue situation in Diphu town and Karbi Anglong district was also chaired by the NHM Assam managing director in the presence of officials of the district administration, members of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), Diphu Medical College and Hospital.
Subsequently, a two-pronged strategy, one targeting the community and one targeting clinical management was developed. Nine teams headed by an ACS officer and doctor each had moved to the wards of the town and targeted fever surveillance of 20,000 people.
During the dengue drive in the wards of Diphu, a total of 1422 houses were visited by the teams wherein 3568 source reduction sites were done. A total of 74 fever cases were detected by the team. Necessary follow-up action has been taken.
Doctors from Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and epidemiology teams from the nearby districts have also been deputed at Karbi Anglong to help and manage the situation, including fogging machines and extra ICU beds, if needed in periphery with necessary HR for any emergency.
“The situation in Karbi Anglong is under close watch and all preventive measures are being taken to combat the situation,” an official statement said.
It may be noted that dengue treatment is available free of cost in all government hospitals and government medical colleges and hospitals.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the alarming surge in dengue cases, the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) on Sunday announced the closure of educational institutions falling within the Diphu Municipal Board and Greater Diphu Town area from Monday (November 7) till November 12, 2022.