With dengue deaths in West Bengal since January touching 25, the State Health Department has issued an advisory to hospitals asking them to strictly follow the treatment protocol based on WHO guidelines after several medical establishments were found flouting it.
The advisory, issued last week, has made it mandatory for all government and private hospitals in the state to conduct dengue and scrub typhus tests on any person suffering from fever for five days, officials said on Wednesday.
“It has come to our notice that the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on conducting tests for dengue and scrub typhus were not being followed by several medical establishments, following which the advisory was issued. “We have been abiding by the protocol in the state for several years as per norms prevalent across the globe,” a health department official said.
He said the department would monitor the medical institutions to ensure that the protocol is being followed.
“Establishments found flouting it will be penalised,” he said. Some 25 people have succumbed to dengue and more than 40,000 have been affected by the disease in the state since January, officials said. Besides, two deaths due to scrub typhus have also been reported from the districts of the state, they said.