The National Capital is bracing itself for a new health emergency with nearly 130 Dengue cases reported from the city in the last few days. As per the data shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, over 500 cases have been reported so far this season. As per reports, the tally has been the highest in the last four years.
The sudden spike in the cases could be attributed to the heavy rainfall the city has been witnessing for the past few days. Water retention due to heavy rainfall facilitates the spread of vector-borne disease. The casualties due to the disease have remained low this year. Amid the rising cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday informed that a plan has been devised to combat the spread of vector-borne disease.
Gurugram Health Department is also exercising measures to curb the spread of disease with a total of 18 new cases reported on Tuesday and the year's tally reaching the mark of 165 cases so far. Recently, the city started a fever clinic at a Civil hospital weekly to ease the detection and surveillance of the disease.
In states like West Bengal, Dengue cases have crossed the 15 ooo mark. In wake of the alarming rise in cases, the state government has decided to increase the number of fever clinics at block-level hospitals and has assigned health-workers on door-to-door visits in the vulnerable areas.
The concept of fever clinics has gained some attention during the pandemic years. It would be interesting to know how these clinics could help lower the disease burden in healthcare centres.
Fever clinics: Makes segregation easy
Many hospital systems have created special clinics focused exclusively on diagnosing people with fever-related health conditions like COVID-19, Dengue and others. These clinics have two distinctive advantages, first, they help separate patients with fever, respiratory conditions like COVID and other contagious conditions from patients seeking care for other non-contagious conditions. Secondly, they help in ensuring that only the sickest patients are taken care of in the emergency ward.
Saves struggle of non-fever patients
Dr Sarath Narayan, a practising emergency physician in Faridabad said: "A medical OPD has a variety of patients with varying health conditions. In flu season, the space is bound to get overwhelmed by patients suffering from viral infections and patients with other conditions suffer because of this."
The health expert also explained that a fever clinic is a designated space to see patients having fever-related symptoms. The space is purely diagnostic and the treatment of these health conditions might happen in a conventional method. "Following a diagnosis in these fever clinics, patients who develop complications can be directed to an emergency ward as per the requirement. However, it must be remembered that only OPD patients are seen in these clinics," said Dr Narayan.
When can you visit a fever clinic
Most fever clinics are present within the hospital premises. Patients having fever-related or flu-related symptoms are usually directed to a separate room. As a part of OPD, patients can receive immediate medical attention in these clinics. Like in any other functional OPD, patients can also receive treatment for the following conditions in a fever clinic-
Respiratory illnesses like cold, sinus infection and others
Sore throat
Urinary tract infection
Eye infections
Gastrointestinal infections like stomach ache, food poisoning and others
Minor injuries and accidents
Skin and nail problems.
Comments
Post a Comment