Bengaluru: Responding to surging dengue cases in Karnataka, the state government on Thursday directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and officials of other districts to set up control rooms to monitor the outbreak locally.
As of July 11, the state reported 8,221 positive cases with seven deaths. Bengaluru topped the charts with 2,463 dengue cases.
Harsh Gupta, principal secretary to the government Health and Family Welfare Department, issued a circular directing officers in its vector-borne disease control programme to set up a dengue war room at the Arogya Soudha in Bengaluru.
The circular mandated fortnightly source-reduction activities in every locality. Each district must constitute a task force comprising the CEO of the zilla panchayat, the local commissioner, project directors of the Urban Development Department, and other officials and stakeholders under the district’s Deputy Commissioner.
The BBMP and all district officials must identify dengue hotspots, defined as areas where two or more dengue cases have been identified within a 100-metre radius, and intensify fogging, distribution of mosquito repellents, and establishment of fever clinics in those areas.
Testing and treatment of all dengue cases in hospitals and healthcare facilities under the state health department will be for free, regardless of APL or BPL card status. At least five beds in taluk hospitals and eight to 10 beds in district hospitals will be reserved for dengue cases, Gupta noted in his circular.
District-level officers must ensure that testing kits, essential drugs, and IV fluids are well stocked for the management and treatment of dengue. They must also ensure that platelets, fresh frozen plasma, and other blood components are sufficiently available in both public and private blood banks, with regular updates on the eRaktKosh portal.
Published 11 July 2024, 22:33 IST