Kerala - Kannur   

‘Four Plus Campaign' to be strengthened

KANNUR: The ‘Four Plus Campaign,' aimed at tackling the outbreak of infectious diseases such as dengue fever, leptospirosis, chikungunya and malaria, will be strengthened in the district.

A district-level meeting of officials and people's representatives, chaired by District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, here on Tuesday finalised the strategy for controlling and checking any outbreak of contagious diseases.

The campaign will focus on individuals, households, wards and panchayats/municipalities and involve coordination of various government departments, organisations and the public under the aegis of the Health Department.

The ‘Four Plus Campaign' conceives four strategies to fight chikungunya, dengue, leptospirosis and malaria. Health officials here fear that dengue fever is likely to hit the district this year. Unlike chikungunya that debilitates and against which there is herd immunity in the region as a result of an outbreak in many parts of the district last year, dengue is fatal, especially if it is dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.

Leptospirosis cases are also reported during the monsoon and it takes some time to be diagnosed, health officials said.

They are also worried about reports of indigenous malaria in Kasaragod district and the presence of Anopheles mosquitoes that act as a malaria vector. No case of indigenous malaria have been reported in the district though there are cases among people coming here from outside.

The health officials warn of more cases of hepatitis and typhoid during the monsoon.

The ‘Four Plus' strategy envisages long-term, intensive and multi-pronged activities, including immunisation and control measures, steps for behavioural changes and awareness, reviews and supervision.

The meeting was told that over the past three months, seven cases of leptospirosis, four cases of dengue fever and 34 cases of non-indigenous malaria have been reported.

Field workers in the Health Department, Accredited Social Health Activist and anganwadi workers, Kudumbasree members and volunteers have been assigned jobs, including household visits, observation of cases of fever and observation of presence of mosquitoes.

Each ward will have a committee with ward member as chairman and a Health official as convener. Ward-level activities will be coordinated by the committee.

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