NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday chaired a high-level meeting in Delhi with the officials to review the public health measures taken to control and management of dengue cases.Highlighting the urgency of intervention, Mandaviya pointed out that many poor people are affected by dengue who are weakened due to low platelet count.”Primary health care centres may prescribe antipyretic drugs to suppress the symptoms without addressing the root cause which may lead to the eventual demise of the patient,” he said.He further said that testing is the most important step for identifying dengue. He thereafter directed officials to ramp up testing so that all cases are reported and treated properly.The Minister also stressed on the need for effective coordination between the Centre and states.”Some hospitals are overburdened with dengue cases while beds continue to be empty in other hospitals. Effective communication between all stakeholders was thus suggested as the way forward,” Mandaviya said.The Union Health Minister also requested Delhi officials to look into the possibility of repurposing COVID beds to treat Dengue.”Use of mosquito nets, full-sleeved clothing, indoor fogging are to be encouraged while the MCDs are to spray in the houses of the Dengue patients and 60 houses around it,” he added.Other than removing stagnant water in houses, restaurants, industries, overhead tanks, the Health Minister stressed the identification of slums without a regular supply of water where water is stored for consumption.”Extensive cleaning is required on some surfaces where water gets replaced frequently like coolers and refrigerator trays, the use of chemicals like Temephos granules is known to be effective in larvae control,” he said.
