Dengue Death In Bhubaneswar, 5th Standard Student Succumbs

Bhubaneswar: In a saddening incident, a minor boy has succumbed to dengue in the capital city of Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

It is noteworthy that this is the second dengue-related death in the capital city of Odisha.

The dengue-affected minor who succumbed in Bhubaneswar today was a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 4. He was studying in the 5th Standard.

Earlier, the Health & Family Welfare Department of Odisha government has asked all the Collector and District Magistrate and the Municipal Commissioners (Cuttack, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur & Rourkela) to take steps for the prevention and control of dengue.

In his letter on June 23 to the concerned officials, N. B. Dhal, the Principal Secretary to Government, said, “As you are well aware of the fact that the incidence of Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs) are likely to increase during monsoon and post-monsoon season due to the conducive environment. Further, occasional spells of rainfall can also result in an unprecedented case rise. Most vector-borne diseases can be controlled if appropriate preventive measures are undertaken collectively at the district level.”

“Under such circumstances, you are requested to remain vigilant with all preparedness with reference to trained front line workers, logistics, diagnostics and drugs, outbreak management skills of RRT for the prevention and control of vectorborne disease well in advance in your respective districts,” it added.

The Principal Secretary further said, “As it is learned from the past experiences Malaria, Dengue, JE and other VBD outbreaks can occur at any time giving rise to morbidity and mortality within a short period of time and require effective control measures, the block and district level health teams need to be kept in readiness for timely management of cases and undertake vector control measures with immediate effect in the community to prevent further cases and deaths.”

It further added that recently there are reports on cases of dengue, reported from many districts and a preventive and proactive step is necessary to control the possible outbreak.

Kindly ensure the effective implementation of the following points and review the activity at your level.

• Convening a district/ Municipal level meeting of all stakeholders to formulate an action plan.
• Coordinate and involve other line departments for awareness and vector control activities.
• Mapping of vulnerable pockets by analyzing the epidemiological trend of the last five years and the current year with intensified surveillance in the vulnerable pockets.
• Intensive source reduction activities to be carried out to minimize the transmission risk of dengue/chikungunya.
• Ensure provision of tests, treatment and timely referral facilities to avoid deaths Plan for reaching out to inaccessible and difficult areas.
• Regular monitoring of vector control measures in preventing and reducing disease burden.
• Ensure the adequate availability of drugs. logistics & blood & blood products for the management of cases.
• District and block RRT to be formed and kept in readiness to manage any adverse situation.
• Ensure involvement of industries, PRI members & SHGs in vector control and disease control activities.
• IEC &BCC method to disseminate the message for prevention and control of these diseases using local print and electronic media and social media networks.
• All the above-mentioned activities must be carried out by following COVID-19 appropriate behavior.