Monsoon has brought along another worry in a Ragareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. The demise of a nine-year-old boy has come to the notice of Rangareddy District Medical Officer in Andhra Pradesh, and the Health Officer (DMHO) after it was reported that the death was due to dengue virus. To ascertain if the claim was true and if the death was due to the vector-borne disease, the procedural ‘death audit’ will be performed on the victim. The boy is from Madinaguda, Miyapur in Andhra Pradesh.
The medical history of the deceased will be collected by a committee comprising DMHO, District Malaria Officer, epidemiologist and others to perform a study. They will go through the details, which will include test performed to declare dengue, when the diagnosis was performed, treatment provided to the patient and other tests. The case-sheet of the person will also be collected from the hospital where the deceased was treated. While 892 cases of dengue have been reported so far across the state of Andhra Pradesh, from June 1 to August 23, no deaths were reported due to the mosquito-borne disease.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease whose symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. This may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash. Recovery generally takes around two to seven days. However, if the disease is not diagnosed and treated on time, it may turn out to be fatal in nature.
Dr K.V. Swarajya Lakshmi, who works with Rangareddy DMHO, said that though there are high chances of false-positive and negative results using Rapid Diagnostic Test, it is being used by some private hospitals to confirm dengue cases, and this is leading to a panic-like state among people.
“We have instructed private hospitals not to confirm dengue based on Rapid Diagnostic test which has 27% chances to give false negative or positive results. They were suggested to use Elisa test to confirm dengue on fifth day or later after onset of fever,” said Dr Lakshmi.
To confirm if the cases of dengue are positive, the Hyderabad officials are working out a method to make private hospitals send samples to Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) for diagnostic test. For early detection of the disease, medical camps are being set up around the state. Anti-larvae operations are also conducted to avoid breeding of mosquitoes, which is the carrier of the infection causing virus.
Comments
0 comment