Steps afoot to prevent disease outbreak in TN; 55,000 screened

With Tamil Nadu ravaged by North East monsoon, authorities have gone on a war-footing to avert any major epidemic by setting up medical camps in the rain-hit areas where 55,000 people have already been examined.
In Chennai, 199 medical camps have been held besides 17 mobile camps with 36,040 persons having been screened so far, a top Tamil Nadu Government Health official told PTI.
Several additional medical camps have been set up in low-lying areas where people are stranded in their houses or in relief camps.
Measures have been taken to ensure prevention of outbreak of infections and diseases and over 55,000 people have been screened in medical camps in badly hit Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram Districts, the state government said here today.

"All steps have been taken to prevent the possibility of outbreak of diseases and infections," the official said.
TV footage showed paramedics and doctors attending to the ailing people and providing them medicines in the inundated areas of Chennai and around.

At Kancheepuram, over 11,000 persons have been screened through 106 medical camps and 9,372 persons benefited in 89 camps held in Tiruvallur District.
Also, 402 mobile medical units are on the job in the state, the official said.
Such mobile camps are held by using 770 jeeps, he said, adding, similar medical camps and other precautionary measures are in place in all other affected regions.

"We have asked local authorities to ensure adequate chlorniation of water bodies so that probability of epidemics could be controlled," he said.
Similar measures were being taken to ensure proper sanitation to help tackle the situation.
"We are continuously monitoring the situation across the state. So far, there is no incidence of any disease outbreak anywhere in the state," a top health official added.
According to a doctor in one of the camps, preventive measures are being taken to check outbreak of dysentery and vector-borne diseases.
Medical camps are active at Velachery, Perumbakkam, Saidapet, Thoraipakkam and Nandambakkam in Chennai, where water-logging continues to hit normal life.

A team of doctors are also attending to the people in Kancheepuram district, where life is slowly limping back to normalcy.