LHMC, other hospitals gear up to tackle dengue

With the arrival of monsoon, Lady Hardinge Medical College and other associated hospitals in the city have started taking measures, including regular surveillance and setting up dedicated beds for patients, to prevent dengue and other vector-borne diseases.
This comes after Union Health Minister J P Nadda had recently directed the hospitals to prepare an action plan on advance preparedness regarding dengue and other diseases during monsoon.
"Patients (at Lady Hardinge and other associated hospitals) are being advised to report to medical OPD or casualty (Emergency). Since the start of this year, the college has received 302 suspected clinical cases of dengue fever, 18 of which have been laboratory confirmed," a health ministry statement said.

In view of the ensuing transmission season, Nadda had advised the hospital administration that elimination of mosquito vector breeding needs to be the top priority to reduce the risk of transmission.
The hospital is also conducting regular surveillance to detect mosquito breeding in and around the college premises and regular anti-larval application and insecticidal spray are being done to keep premises mosquito-free.
"Regular sensitisation of supporting staff for vector surveillance activities in the college and hospital premises is being done," the statement further said.

It said that diagnostic kits are available for diagnosis of dengue while laboratories are functional 24X7 for platelet count and hematocrit reports of dengue patients in the pathology department.

Blood components like platelets and others are also available in the LHMC Blood Bank. Dedicated beds and trained manpower are available for management of dengue patients. IV Fluids and other essential medicines are available for dengue management, the statement added.
The Centre has asked all the central government-run hospitals in Delhi, including AIIMS, to "buckle up" to tackle an outbreak of dengue during the monsoon season and prepare an action plan within a week to combat the vector-borne disease.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus and its symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain.

The Health Minister had also directed the hospital to keep their premises clean and mark beds for dengue patients in a separate enclosure.