Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Full alert against chikungunya in northern districts

Thiruvananthapuram: The Health Department is on full alert against the outbreak of chikungunya in the northern districts and all necessary preventive and control measures have already been put in place in Kasaragod district from where suspected chikungunya cases are being reported in large numbers since last month, Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy has said.

Over 2,000 cases of chikungunya were reported from the Dakshin Karnataka districts, especially Sullya, since April 11.

The State Health Department will convene a meeting along with Karnataka health officials at Mangalapuram soon to discuss the situation as the outbreak at Sullya has left all bordering areas in Kasaragod very much vulnerable.

Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, Ms. Sreemathy said that the State Disease Control and Monitoring Cell (SDCMC) had been active in the State since last October and that the health workers and the Cell officials had been organising lot of control activities in Kasaragod.

A meeting would be convened on May 25 at Kanhangad to review the disease control activities in the district.

According to official figures, 618 cases of chikungunya were reported from Kasaragod since April 21.

According to officials, a lot of poor patients from Sullya were coming to Kasaragod seeking treatment. Widespread awareness campaigns were being conducted and disease reporting had been strengthened.

A few cases of chikungunya were reported from Kozhikode also but the situation was under control, officials claimed. Ms. Sreemathy said the Health Department had, for the first time in the country, prepared a comprehensive treatment and management protocol for chikungunya, in consultation with doctors of the Indian Medical Association, which would be followed by all government and private hospitals in the State.

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