Dengue is a threatening disease now on rise in the capital city of Delhi. Reports of spread of this disease in some more parts of the country also come in intermittently. Jammu is also under the threat though not of large scale so far.
Though the Health Ministry has been issuing timely warnings about dos and don’ts about spread of dengue, yet the disease is assuming threatening dimensions. It may not yet have attained the level of an epidemic nevertheless about 21 persons were reported dead in Delhi owing to dengue virus. So far, more than 2,000 persons tested positive in the capital city. Considering the increasing number of dengue victims brought to different hospitals and private clinics in the capital city, the Delhi administration has ordered conversion of 55 dispensaries into ‘Fever and Dengue Clinics’ from Monday. According to hospital authorities, the fresh showers in recent days have been the cause of spate in dengue related incidents.
This notwithstanding, we have reports of negligence and inexperience on the part of some doctors treating the patients of dengue fever in various hospitals in the city. The story of the death of a 38-year old dengue victim Harish Chuhan of Deoli village in South Delhi is simply agonizing. For more than five days, no doctor could diagnose his affliction with dengue and treated him for liver disorder. His relatives took him to three hospitals before he passed away without being diagnosed properly. There are growing reports of doctors not diagnosing the disease immediately and then taking rescue measure.
In Jammu province, the situation so far is under control. According to reports we learn that out of 20 patients tested for dengue virus, nine have tested positive. However, we would advise the Health Department not to remain complacent with small number of dengue cases in Jammu region. This is a dangerous virus which has already taken many precious lives. Its control depends on timely medical assistance. Generally, the doctors cannot diagnose the dengue in the first go and various possibilities come into focus when a patient reports to them. It is only after proper and specific blood tests that dengue virus is established. In view of this, we would exhort the Health Department to provide testing facilities in most of the district hospitals and Public Health Centres so that without wasting precious time, so that cases of dengue virus are detected and reported to proper authorities. Secondly, all district hospitals should be directed to maintain the blood banks because in dengue cases, invariably the patients require blood transfusion to increase the blood palates count that resists the impact of the virus. In each district hospital, at least one or two specialists of dengue disease should be posted, at least temporarily if not permanently to deal with dengue cases in the districts.
The Jammu Municipality should undertake massive programme of de-watering, water loggings and spraying fumes to finish the dengue culture. Adequate instructions to the people and homesteads are to be provided about essential precautionary measures they should take. Prevention is better than cure.
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