636 cases of dengue have been reported, compared to 611 cases reported last year during the same period.
The state government on Friday admitted that there has been an increase in the number of dengue cases in AP.
During a review meeting held by Chief Minister N Kiran Kiran Kumar, officials informed him that this year only 3 dengue deaths have been reported, but that as many 636 cases have been reported compared to 611 cases and 3 deaths reported last year during the same period.
25,105 cases of malaria were reported, with 3 deaths, compared to 25,922 cases and 9 deaths last year.
There have been no deaths due to chikungunya this year in the state.
The Chief Minister held a detailed review meeting on dengue and other vector-borne diseases, with Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy and top officials.
He directed Chief Secretary Pankaj Dwivedi to ask the Singareni Collieries MD to open sentinel centres in Mancherial, Bellampally and other areas to prevent and control dengue. He also directed the District Collectors in dengue affected districts to make daily visits to the areas in their respective districts and brief the media every the evening.
The Chief Minister said that an awareness drive should be taken up in all the affected areas, and if need be, special officers should be appointed and posted to these areas to take up preventive steps.
According to Health Commissioner Srilakshmi, sentinel surveillance is being done for detecting dengue. Sera samples are collected from admitted suspected cases and tested in the sentinel centers.
Officials said that the MAC ELISA test is the only confirmatory test as per WHO and NVBDCP guidelines. This test is available in 26 centers in the State. 2 types of test kits are made available for testing samples.
NSI Antigen detectable test kits are used for the detection of the dengue virus in its initial stages, i.e., from day 1 to day 5 of infection.
The antibody detectable kits are being supplied by the National Institute of Virology, Pune. These kits are useful for the detection of the infection after the 5th day of the symptoms.
Reportedly, there is neither a specific treatment nor a vaccine for dengue; only symptomatic treatment is given, and the physician need not wait for results in order to administer treatment. The results only help doctors take up preventive measures to check further transmission.
Blood component separators are functional in 70 places of 19 districts in the state, for immediate platelet transfusion facility.
As for the preventive measures, the officials said that house-to-house searches for Aedes mosquito breeding is being made.
In addition, pyrethrum is sprayed, and anti-larval measures are taken up for 4 to 8 weeks, with weekly monitoring.
Also, citizens are being educated about the prevention of breeding and protection from mosquito bite, house-to-house searches for secondary cases is also being made.
In addition to the regular surveillance and Control Operations, a campaign mode control is being planned for 3 months from September to November, in all dengue-prone and malaria-prone districts. This campaign will be held 10 days in a month.
For effective campaign mode control, a total of Rs. 2.12 crores has been released. Rs. 8,85,000 has been released for dengue prevention and awareness preparedness; Rs. 18,15,000 for malaria epidemic preparedness; Rs. 1,31,000 for mobility; and the rest for the procurement of anti malarials, larvicides, insecticides and IEC.
Vehicles have been provided to PHC Medical Officers and District Malaria Officers in all tribal areas. (INN)