13 people died of scrub typhus in Himachal this year: Official

Thirteen people in Himachal Pradesh died of scrub typhus, a bacterial infection, so far this year as compared to 21 deaths last year, a health official said on Saturday.

As many as 1,456 people are suffering from the bacterial infection in the state so far this year, whereas 1,940 people were affected last year, Special Secretary (Health) Dr Nipun Jindal said.

During a two-day review meeting of eight northern states and Union territories on the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) in Shimla, the efforts of Himachal Pradesh in effective prevention and control of communicable diseases, especially in containing scrub typhus, were appreciated, Jindal said.

Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi participated in the review meeting held on Friday and Saturday with the main objective of analysing the programme's achievements set against the central government's targets.

The participants agreed to share data for effective prevention and control of epidemic-prone diseases in the northern region, said Jindal, the mission director of the National Health Mission, Himachal Pradesh.

The IDSP was launched in 2004 with the mandate to create a system of disease surveillance for timely and effective public health action with a focus on functional integration of surveillance components of various vertical programmes.