Scheme to check fever outbreak in coastal areas

Thiruvananthapuram: The district health administration has decided to implement a special scheme in the coastal areas as part of intensifying preventive and control measures against the spread of fever, infectious diseases and other monsoon-related diseases.

Eight cases of dengue fever and one case of leptospirosis were confirmed in the district on Monday.

A meeting of the district-level Rapid Response Team held here on Monday decided that special measures be adopted in the coastal areas, including mass fogging, indoor residual spraying, biological vector-control measures such as depositing larva-eating fishes in wells, and awareness programmes to prevent the outbreak of malaria and dengue fever.

Junior health inspectors in the coastal wards will be trained under the district malaria officer to conduct mass fogging this week. The district health officials are planning to launch mass fogging in the wards on Saturday.

A week of intensive fogging will be followed by indoor residual spraying and guppy fishes will be deposited in the wells in the area. District-level officials will monitor the operations regularly. It has also been decided to call the ward-level sanitation committees and intensify local disease prevention and control activities.