Preventive measures taken to stop diseases due to monsoons
Posted on: 20/Nov/2015 9:50:07 AM
Officials have taken precautions to prevent diseases that may occur due to the intense flooding in the city. Teams of professionals have been conducting medical camps in which they check people pulses and give out vaccines. Water has been chlorinated to kill nay germs that may thrive in them.
According to an official from the Health Department, preventive and curative steps are being taken. In addition to regular services, the public health machinery has set up 217 health camps along with the Corporation of Chennai to cover each of the 200 divisions and low-lying areas, and 1,112 camps in the districts. Additionally, 402 mobile medical units and 770 jeepborne medical units have also been operating at the field level, especially in affected areas. On a given day , about a lakh people visit such special screening camps.
When asked about the shortage of staff in the department, the official said there was no such thing. He said that around 4000 workers, both health and sanitary stuff, have been deployed in special camps and mobile units. Normally , after incidents such as the recent flooding, there is an impact phase between 0 to 4 days, a post-impact phase between four days to four weeks, and subsequently a recovery phase.During the first phase we see cases of trauma caused by skidding, allergies, insect and snake bites and fever.During the post impact phase, surveillance is done to check breeding sites of mosquitoes, assessing outbreaks, if any , and preventive measures like chlorinating water are taken. Also, there has been no reported outbreak so far in the state and cases of fever, diarrhea and itching are only sporadically seen, he said.
The Department anticipates diseases and ailments such as upper respiratory tract infections, mixed fevers, cases of diarrhoea, skid injuries, allergies and insect bites this season. They have adequate stock of medicines, IV fluids, antibiotics, tetanus toxoid, antisnake venom and antihistamines (anti-allergens).
It has been advised that the general public should boil water before consumption. Frequent hand washing will also go a long way in preventing diseases. In addition, sumps where drainage and rain water could have mixed must be cleared and cleaned with bleach.
The government has set up helplines to provide health advice to the public. The helplines are: 9444340496, 044 24350496, 24334811 in addition to 104.
