Dengue fear grips city residents

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, October 9

Dengue fever has gripped the town and as many as 78 patients have been tested positive of it at a local hospital of in the past fortnight.

“Last week, we had 39 patients visiting hospital to get treatment for dengue. A similar number has been reported this week. A total of seven patients were discharged today while 10 to 12 are still hospitalised. The patients complain of severe headache, liver and kidney disfunctioning, body aches, low blood pressure. In some cases there is redness all over the body, high grade fever, chill and body aches, diarrhoea, sore throat and even chest pains. Personal care certainly seems to be lacking among the patients,” informed Dr Gursaran Sidhu of Sidhu Hospital.

“We have asked the public to wash their hands before and after consumption of any sort of food intake, take a healthy diet, cover their nose while sneezing, avoid cut and overripe fruit. The residents, too, are being advised to report about viral fever,” she added.

According to Dr Gagan from Dashmesh Charitable Dispensary, Doraha, “Though no confirmed dengue case has been reported in our dispensary, but 10 to 15 patients with sudden dip in platelet count visit the hospital. The patients are mainly from Doraha, Khanna and surrounding villages. The present situation demands that as a precautionary measure, the residents need to check primarily that there is no fresh water standing for long around their places.”

Dr Harwinder Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Payal, said: “Patients with typical dengue are very less but we are definitely giving them symptomatic treatment. In my knowledge, just two patients have been tested positive till now. Most patients with other viral infections are being quoted to suffer from dengue. Every patient with low platelet count cannot be declared to be a dengue case. Moreover, the provision of testing patients for dengue, as per the government guidelines, is different. So the patients should better approach us and we can refer them to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, where they can get themselves tested and be sure about the fever they are suffering from.”

“We are taking steps at our own level and educating public regarding this through door-to-door visits. One day every week is being observed as dry day to check and remove standing water from residential and public places as well. As per weather conditions, a sudden spurt in mosquito larva is expected, which shall be normalised after Diwali,” he added.