PATNA A four-member Central team on Thursday interacted with a few dengue patients and visited a couple of hot spots of the mosquito-borne viral disease in Biharsharif and Rajgir subdivisions of Nalanda district in its endeavour to assist the state government by providing technical guidance, including public health measures, for managing the ongoing upsurge of dengue, said senior health officials.
“The team will also visit hospitals and hotspots in Patna, which have been divided into four zones, including areas like Punaichak, Bajrangpuri and Biscomaun Colony,” said Dr Ranjeet Kumar, state surveillance officer.
The team visited Badi Pahari in Biharsharif where around 12-15 people were infected by dengue. It interacted with a few patients and also enquired about anti-larva spraying in the area.
The team also visited the sadar (district) hospital in Biharsharif and asked the authorities to perform Elisa test for dengue in front of them.
The state health department had, a few days back, given the authorities at the sadar hospital the go-ahead for Elisa testing of dengue by making available 200 kits of NS1 Elisa and 400 IgM Elisa kits. The lone microbiologist at the hospital was trained for Elisa testing on Wednesday, said sources at the sadar hospital.
“We commenced Elisa testing for dengue at the sadar hospital from today after getting the approval on October 18,” said Gyananedra Shekhar, district programme manager of Nalanda.
The team also visited the Rajgir subdivisional hospital before going to the Bhagwan Mahavir Ayurvigyan Sansthan medical college at Pawapuri to test for facilities of patient management at the hospital and for testing at the microbiology laboratory of the medical college.
The team had met Bihar’s additional chief secretary, health, Pratyaya Amrit, on its arrival from New Delhi Wednesday evening. Amrit gave the team a summary of the dengue scenario in the state.
The team also visited the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), where it took stock of emergency and special wards for dengue patients.
Patna accounts for 4,368 dengue cases this year, and three of the four deaths due to dengue in the state.
Nalanda reported one death and around 300 cases, said officials.
Around 5,600 cases of dengue have so far been reported in the state. Bihar reported highest 6,667 cases in 2019, of which Patna accounted for 4,905 cases.
The team comprises Dr Ravi Shankar Singh, chief medical officer, regional office of Health and Family Welfare, Patna; Dr Sanjib Gogoi of Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi; Dr Niraj Kumar of National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi and Lalthazuali, from National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control, New Delhi.
