Steps to contain outbreaks of diseases in Alappuzha
The decision was taken following the death of a four-year-old boy, who passed away at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital due to inflammation of the brain a few days ago, official sources said here today.
As many as 29 confirmed cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and 18 confirmed cases of dengue were reported in Alappuzha district.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal told newspersons, "the State Health Minister will meet his department officials in Alappuzha on June 21 to chalk out strategies to adopt to control the spread of diseases." A 62-year-old woman near Arattupuzha had also died of JE a week ago. With the reported cases of JE showing symptoms slightly different from its usual features, the district was facing one of the biggest such outbreaks, with a combination of different diseases targeting the vulnerable.
The previous largest outbreak of JE was in 2006, when 13 cases including one death were reported.
Meanwhile, as many as three cases of Malaria were reported from the coastal Mukkola-Vinzhinjam area in Thiruvananthapuram.
The entire coastal belt has always been vulnerable to frequent outbreaks of infectious diseases, especially mosquito-borne diseases, given the poor social, economic and environmental conditions in the coastal areas.
In the absence of piped water supply, the people are forced to buy water and store it in large containers inside and outside the house for washing and cleaning purposes. These vessels are not closed properly leading to large-scale vector breeding. (UNI -Posted on / )
More from kerala-news: