Corp seeks support of private doctors for chikungunya

Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran (third left) hands over pamphlets on chikungunya prevention to Mayor R. Venkatachalam (second right) in Coimbatore on Tuesday.As part of intensifying the measures to prevent chikungunya, the Coimbatore Corporation has sought the co-operation of doctors of private clinics in identifying and reporting to Government health authorities any cases in the city.While the doctors have been asked to educate people on the symptoms such as fever and severe joint pain, they will also be expected to sensitise them to the need for preventive measures. The Corporation also expects doctors having their clinics across the city to report any case of chikungunya so that the patient’s residential area can be identified and control measures taken up.

The main focus is on avoiding the stagnation or storage of fresh water (or rainwater) in open containers that provide a breeding space for the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which carry the disease-causing alpha virus. The mosquito bites only during the day and transmits the virus to humans.City Health Officer M. Thangaraj said the doctors were asked to open a register to record chikungunya cases. “The doctors have been asked to inform the health officer of suspected or confirmed cases as chikungunya is a notified disease under the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939,” Dr. Thangaraj said.

The doctors, however, said there was no unusual rise in fever cases reporting to their clinics or hospitals. “We also told them to first take up preventive measures in their own clinics so that these do not become breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” Dr. Thangaraj said.“Around 100 doctors participated in a meeting held at the Corporation on Monday evening. They were keen on assisting the Corporation in preventing the disease from striking the city,” Mayor R. Venkatachalam said.The civic body would involve National Service Scheme volunteers from various educational institutions in its mosquito breeding prevention drive on Saturday and Sunday (June 23 and 24).

Dr. Thangaraj said the Corporation held a meeting with headmasters of schools on Tuesday at the Corporation Girls’ Higher Secondary School at Ramakrishnapuram to discuss the drive planned for the weekend. The Corporation health workers and the student volunteers would cover all the 72 wards of the city and drain water stagnating in discarded buckets, bottles, coconut shells and tyres. The Corporation workers would add drops of an anti-larval solution in water stored in tubs to prevent the breeding of the mosquito.

The Corporation has printed 1.25 lakh pamphlets containing information about chikungunya and the preventive measures. Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran released the pamphlets and these were received by Mayor R. Venkatachalam at Tuesday’s meeting at the Corporation school. The pamphlets would be distributed during the intensive drive that would begin on Saturday.

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