India to send experts’ team to states with high number of dengue cases

New Delhi: India’s Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday reviewed the dengue situation in the national capital and directed the health secretary to send a team of experts to states with a high active caseload, for disease control and management.

Highlighting the urgency of intervention, Mandaviya pointed out that many poor people are affected by dengue. “Primary health care centres may prescribe anti-pyretic drugs to suppress the symptoms without addressing the root cause which may lead to eventual demise of the patient. Testing is the most important step to identifying dengue,” he said.

He also directed the officials to ramp up testing so that all cases are reported and treated properly. The minister stressed the need for effective co-ordination between the Centre and states. He observed that some hospitals are over-burdened with dengue cases while beds continue to be empty in other hospitals. He requested the Delhi officials to look into the possibility of repurposing Covid beds to treat dengue.

At the meeting, it was decided that the Union Health Ministry officials will support their counterparts in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government to combat dengue. The state health officials assured the minister that the outbreak will be contained with the help of all stakeholders. New vaccines developed to target dengue were also discussed.

Talking about the initiatives taken to curb dengue cases, Mandaviya tweeted, “Reviewed the dengue situation in Delhi and assured Centre’s full support. On-ground initiatives like hotspot identification, fogging and timely treatment will be carried out to curb disease. Centre is also sending a team of experts to states with rising dengue cases. As per data, Delhi has reported 1,537 cases and six deaths this year till date. Of the total 1,537 cases, 1,196 were reported in the month of October and 531 cases were reported last week.”