With the cases of dengue spiraling in the district, the Nagar Nigam has launched an awareness campaign in conjunction with various schools and NGOs. Through rallies taken out by students of Anandmai Sewa Sadan, people were made aware to keep their surroundings clean and report to the health centre if some symptoms of Dengue like high fever are noticed.
The district Malaria officer Dr Gurnam Singh told The Pioneer that in all, 30 cases of suspected Dengue had been reported in the district. Blood samples have been taken for their ElISA test on Wednesday. The accuracy of an IgM-ElISA is between 85-90 per cent whereas that of strip or card method is 30-33 per cent. The centre is providing free kits to the hospitals for diagnosis of Dengue, he said.
The symptoms in any fever may be the same- high fever, body pain, bleeding and red spots on skin, but confirmation for Dengue by ElISA test is mandatory, say the doctors. Dr Singh said, “Most patients are still opting for the early detection rapid method because the results are available in less than 30 minutes, and the test is more commonly available, but it is not very accurate. The exact diagnosis of Dengue comes only after IgM-Elisa test which can detect Dengue only after five days of the onset.”
The NS1 antigen is a viral protein, which is detected in the early part of infection of a patient. It occurs within three days after the patient presents clinical signs, said Dr Singh. If a patient undergoes tests within three days, chances of diagnosis are high with rapid card test, but false positives and negatives cannot be ruled out, he said.
When approached, the district hospital the CMS Dr Arti Dhondiyal said, “Four suspected Dengue patients were admitted in the district hospital out of which three were discharged after successful treatment and one nine- year -old Junaid from Jwalapur would be discharged by Thursday. He has recovered from fever,” she said.
Meanwhile, five new patients have been identified in Kankhal area of Haridwar who are taking treatment in Ram Krishna Mission Hospital. They are Reena (23) of Daksh Road Kankhal, Pramod (28) of Sheikhpuri Kankhal, Santosh (50) of Indranagar, Darshan Rani (65) of Vishnu Garden and Pramod Kumar (40) of Shivpuri. Another Nitin (36) of Jwalapur has also been suspected of Dengue for which the test was conducted on Wednesday.
“A team of doctors from CHC was sent to take the blood samples of these patients and the results will confirm whether they have been inflicted with Dengue virus or not, “ said Dr Singh.