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Six die of fever in Pathanamthitta the vector trail

Staff Reporter

Toll rises by two in Kottayam

PATHNAMTHITTA: The fever-related death toll in Pathanamthitta district in the past 45 days has gone up to 49, with six more patients dying on Thursday. In Kottayam district, the toll rose by two.

The dead in Pathanamthitta are Thankappan, 76, of Perinad; Thankamony, 46, of Chittar Kodumoudy; Rajalakshmi, 13, of Kadamband, near Adoor; Kumara Pillai, 52, of Enadimangalam; T.T. Mathew, 68, of Ranni; and P.G. Cherian, 65, of Perinad.

The two dead in Kottayam district are Saraswati, 52, of Kooroppada and Kunju, 70, of Athirampuzha.

According to official records, 9,816 patients sought treatment for viral fever at hospitals in Kottayam district on Thursday.

Of them, 370 are suspected chikungunya cases. The medical team from the Southern Naval Command conducted a camp at Kumarakom on Thursday.

An official release from the Fever Containment Cell in Pathanamthitta said 2,608 fever patients turned up for treatment at hospitals in the district on Thursday. Of them, 120 were suspected cases of chikungunya.

A team from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, visited Pathanamthitta and collected serum samples for examination.

The Army medical team conducted a medical camp at Ezhikadu Colony near Aranmula on Thursday.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy called upon the Government to take urgent steps to provide free rations to fever patients who produced their outpatient tickets.

Mr. Chandy was talking to presspersons at Kottayam, after visiting the fever-affected areas of Pambady, Kanjirappally and Mundakkayam on Thursday.

According to him, many fever patients were not in position to get free rations owing to technical flaws in distribution.

He alleged that the Government’s inept handling of the situation continued to create a shortage of medicines and medical staff at healthcare centres in the district.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan visited patients at the fever wards in the General Hospital in Pathanamthitta on Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Balakrishnan told presspersons that local self-government institutions should ensure proper waste disposal.

Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas visited the primary health centre at Chathenkery.

Staff Reporter writes from Alappuzha: Even as Army medical teams went around the Alappuzha district headquarters and its surroundings with cold fogging units to kill mosquitoes,

There was no drop in the reportage of fever here with 1,024 persons approaching various hospitals complaining of high fever on Thursday.

Five of these were suspected to have chikungunya while 80 were admitted. Chengannur reported 143 new cases on Thursday while Muthukulam had 89. Kayamkulam had 63 fresh cases while Pulinkunnu had 57 and Thuravoor 84. Chengannur, Thuravoor, Muthukulam and Pulinkunnu have been showing a concentration of fever cases with at least 50 new cases reported from these places every day over the last one week.

District Medical Officer N.N. Murali said there were no new positive cases of chikungunya on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Army teams from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune began fogging operations to combat the mosquito menace in Alappuzha.

The teams, which are using cold fogging units, instead of the conventional thermal fogging units in order to enable their use indoors and to have a lasting effect on the vector population, started the operation at Alissery near the District Collectorate.

The teams continued the operations at Muhamma, Cherthala, Vettakal, Omanapuzha and in the Alappuzha town at spots where there was a high density of mosquitoes, before leaving for Pathanamthitta in the evening.

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