KMC doctors to discuss means to combat ‘scrub typhus’ menace

A meeting between senior doctors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Dr PP Giri of the Institute of Child Health will be held on Wednesday to discuss the scrub typhus disease. The disease causes fever, headache, chills and fatigue in the affected. The typhus bacterium, which causes the disease, is carried by mites. 

Giri, who spotted some cases of scrub typhus, will interact with the KMC doctors on detection of the disease as well as the mode of treatment. Giri claimed that he found some children who had been afflicted with the disease. The disease can be fatal if left untreated.

Meanwhile, dengue larvae were found in some areas under wards 4, 8, 23 and 33. The KMC team that is visiting houses found larvae in some uncovered plastic containers where rain water had accumulated. The health department workers found that the covers of underground reservoirs and over head tanks were missing in some premises and asked the owners to get them replaced immediately.

KMC officials regretted that despite an intense campaign to create awareness against dengue and malaria, people were not following their instructions properly. In many houses, people continue to store water in containers which are not cleaned regularly. Garbage is not cleaned routinely and plastic cups are thrown in waste bins.

The officials added that many people fail to realise that the rain water which gets accumulated in used plastic containers serves as an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Old wooden furniture that are stacked on roof tops or used tyres that are kept in the open hold rain water and turn into breeding ground for mosquito larvae that produce dengue.

The officials felt that in addition to KMC’s drives, awareness among the residents was the most important thing to check the spread of the disease. They said the city has become almost free of malaria as the residents followed KMC’s instructions that were issued to check the spread of the disease.