Key Takeaways
- The Health Minister reported over 2,700 eye flu cases in a single day.
- A surge in scrub typhus cases has led to two reported deaths.
- Authorities are launching a village‑level awareness campaign to curb the spread during the rainy season.
Shimla: Naturally, calamities reeling from the loss of hundreds of lives and billions of rupees in properties now loom as a new danger in Himachal Pradesh.
Waterborne diseases are infesting the state, a Advisory issued by the state government health department cautioned.
Key point: The situation demands immediate action.
Health Minister Dr. Dhaniram Shandil stated on Friday that outbreaks of water-borne diseases are a new challenge for the health department during the rainy season.
He claimed that during the previous 24 hours, the state registered as many as 2,740 cases of eye flu, 322 cases of diarrhoea, 59 cases of high-fever typhoid, 34 cases of mysterious fever or scrub typhus, and five cases of jaundice.
He said that Hamirpur district reported 160 cases of diarrhoea, as many patients are getting treatment in the district.
The most fatal water-borne disease in the state is scrub typhus, detected in 34 patients, and many more cases are increasing in the major hospital as it requires immediate hospitalisation. He said that there are reports that two people have died of it so far.
During the meeting with state health officers, Shandil directed the authorities to deal with the outbreak on warfooting so that lives could be saved.
Besides this, instructions have been given to PHC, CHC, and district-level hospitals to make proper arrangements to deal with these diseases.
He said that waterborne diseases are annual features, therefore community medicine should embark on advanced strategies to deal with them, along with putting in place a public awareness campaign in the social media.
“Due to excess rainfall, large number of cases of diarrhoea and eye flu are also coming to light in the state.” The cases of scrub typhus, jaundice, and typhoid are being confirmed across the state and need effective and quality health care to save the lives of its victims.
The Health Minister instructed the medicine department to cope with the emergent situation by deploying highly trained medical staff and prompt medical care.
The Health Department is going to run an awareness campaign on these diseases at the village level so that people can know how to deal with the outbreak and protect themselves at home during the rainy season.
The state is also reporting a number of dengue outbreaks since the last few years that haven’t surfaced during this monsoon session so far.
