Officials deny dengue outbreak

- Say that majority of the reported cases not related to dengue
- Assert that PHCs are well equipped to meet the threat of seasonal diseases and viral fevers
- Private hospitals accused of minting money by diagnosing ordinary fevers as dengue

Kurnool: Despite the district allegedly reeling under the impact of dengue, the records of the District Medical and Health Office (DHMO) portray a rosy picture. 4 to 5 dengue-related deaths have been reported in the last few months and even a couple of days ago, a 22 year-old man had succumbed to dengue at Gulyam village in Halaharvi mandal. Patients in the tail-end villages of the district are going to Karnataka for treatment and these kinds of cases are going unnoticed by the DMHO.

Speaking to The Hans India, Malaria officer J David Raju said 402 cases of malaria and 8 cases of dengue have been registered since January, this year. Of the 8 cases of dengue, a few had been diagnosed as chickungunya, he said and added that apart from these cases, no other cases had been reported at any Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the district. There were 83 PHCs functioning in the district and each one of them was equipped with adequate medicines to combat the threat of viral fevers and seasonal diseases, said David Raju.

He said that they were taking all precautions against the seasonal diseases. Reacting to the death of the 22 year-old man at Gulyam village, the officer quashed all rumors and said the patient had died of jaundice and not dengue as was being widely circulated. He added that the patient was treated at Karnataka and unable to cope with the medicines, had died. The officer said that he had personally visited the home of the deceased and ascertained the facts.

Meanwhile, private hospitals both in the district and neighbouring States are cashing in on the ignorance of the rural folk by diagnosing ordinary fevers also as dengue. This also gives the impression that dengue is rampant and going unchecked by authorities.

V Narendra Kumar