Fever: mobile clinics in district

Thiruvananthapuram: Seasonal flu and fever cases have been going up in many parts of the district with the onset of rains, but a majority of the cases could turn out to be those of viral fever, district health administration officials have said.

Dengue cases have gone up slightly in the past one week in the district and the total number of cases since January this year has crossed 400. However, several preventive and control measures adopted as part of the Four Plus strategy have helped in preventing a flare-up of cases, the officials said.

Private sector hospitals have now begun to report dengue cases, which will help the district administration to get a better idea of the geographical spread of the cases. Of the nine new cases of dengue confirmed on Saturday, five were reported by private sector hospitals.

Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy has directed the district health administration to start mobile health clinics in all districts where fever cases have been showing a clustering so that cases can be picked up early and treatment started without delay. As people can be given treatment at the doorstep, the crowding in hospitals may also go down.

The first mobile clinic in the district was started at Vilappil panchayat on Saturday and seven fever cases were picked up.