Dengue, Viral fevers on the rise in Khammam; govt hospitals overcrowded

The hospitals are unable to handle the heavy rush of patients due to space crunch in in-patient wings and hence the patients are being sent back to homes after treating them or two patients are made to share a single bed

Khammam: Dengue and other viral fevers have gripped Khammam district as a result of which the public health facilities are overcrowded with patients both in urban and rural areas.

According to health officials, the majority of patients visiting the government hospitals are suffering from viral fevers. For instance, at Sathupalli hospital per day around 400 fever patients come for treatment while at Penuballi 200 patients visit the hospital for treatment daily.

---

There are four community health centres, 26 primary health centres, 224 sub-centres and 161 Palle Dawakhanas in addition to Government General Hospital in Khammam.

The hospitals are unable to handle the heavy rush of patients due to space crunch in in-patient wings and hence the patients are being sent back to homes after treating them or two patients are made to share a single bed.

Shortage of doctors and staff has also been impacting the treatment in the hospitals.

As many as 348 dengue cases are said to be reported of the 14, 740 collected since January in the district.

There has been a spike in cases after the onset of monsoon. The health officials are creating awareness among the public on maintaining cleanliness to prevent spread of mosquitoes, officials said.

Health and family welfare commissioner RV Karnan visited the district recently to take stock of the situation in view of the increasing cases of viral fevers.

He along with district Collector Muzammil Khan visited health facilities in the district and told officials to carry out fever surveys on a regular basis. Where dengue positive cases are reported tests have to be conducted in the surrounding areas, he suggested.

Meanwhile, there have been casualties due to viral fevers. A trader N Venkat Rao (65) reportedly died of viral fever at VM Banjar of Penuballi mandal. Similarly, a youth M Madhu (30) of Khammam rural mandal died while being treated in Warangal.

The villagers alleged that the health officials are not organising health camps in villages to address the issue.

On the other hand, the district Collector Muzammil Khan surrendered district health and medical officer (DM&HO) Dr. B Malathi to the government for her alleged failure to take measures to prevent spread of viral fevers and for not monitoring the situation at ground level.