The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tribal areas see a surge in viral fevers

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Monday, Aug 04, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tribal areas see a surge in viral fevers

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

– Photo: G. N. Rao

Long drive: Patients from Kachanapalli village proceeding to Gundala primary health centre in a bullock cart.

GUNDALA (Khammam dt.): A tribal village in this remote mandal headquarters is witnessing a sudden surge in the incidence of fever cases. Almost every family in Kachanapalli has one or two members down with viral fever. Some with malarial symptoms are not responding to oral medication.

With over 400 families, this village in Anantogu gram panchayat is witness to several persons afflicted with a host of other monsoon-related ailments - gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhoea. As qualified doctors are simply out of reach, the tribals depend on three registered medical practitioners (RMPs).

Sarpanch too affected

Sarpanch Chatkala Padma is no exception and is nursing a fever for over a week now. Her family is busy shifting patients to Yellandu, Kothagudem and Khammam for intravenous medication as the unrelenting fevers are difficult to be diagnosed.

Enuganti Kamalamma, 35, and six of her family have been treated for fever by local quacks. They include her husband Chinna and mother Menthena Ramulamma (60). She says it is difficult to expect help from health workers as there are far too many patients to attend to.

The tribal welfare hostel for girls in the village has some 350 students and 10 of them were sick for a week. They were treated by health workers deployed by the department of medical and health.

Villagers prefer Government hospitals at Kothagudem or Yellandu for inpatient treatment in emergencies. Serious cases were often referred to the district headquarters hospital, some 80 km away.

Though they have a primary health centre at this mandal headquarters, few prefer it and the sarpanch feels it amounts to putting themselves at risk. The Anantogu panchayat has some 14 habitations where medical facilities are still a far cry. In Sayanapalli, another tribal village in the mandal, some 30 persons have been afflicted by viral fevers. A woman died of fever in Chinnamamidal village last week. Hundreds of fever patients from tribal villages of Chettupalli, Lingagudem, Chintalapadu, Shambunigudem Narsapuram are visiting nearby towns for treatment.

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