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Central health team in Kerala

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: A six-member Central team of health officials arrived here on Saturday to visit fever-stricken areas in Kerala.

The team is led by Dr. S. Venkitesh, epidemiologist and joint director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi; and includes Dr. Dipesh Bhattacharya, microbiologist; Dr. Kalpana Barua, deputy director, National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme; Dr. Mandeep Chadda and Dr. Paresh Shah of National Institute of Virology, Pune; and Dr. Ashok Kumar, senior physician, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi.

The team will tour Kottayam and Pathanamthitta and collect fresh samples to study the nature of fever that has affected the districts.

Addressing the media before holding meeting with the Central team, Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy said the State Government had begun all possible work once the fever outbreak was noticed. Simultaneously, assistance of the Union Government was sought to study the infection scientifically, she said.

According to latest statistics, 177 persons died in the State due to fever-related ailments in the recent outbreak. Of these, 82 deaths occurred in Pathanamthitta, 80 in Kottayam, 11 in Kollam, three in Ernakulam and one in Kozhikode. There was a reduction of 25 per cent in the number of cases reported since last week, she said.

The outbreak was reported from the rubber plantation areas where powerful pesticides were used extensively to cultivate pineapple as inter-crop, she said.

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