Tirupati shivers with fevers

Tirupati: Pilgrim city is shivering with increasing cases of fever. There is a 50 per cent to 60 per cent rise in fever cases during the past two weeks both in government and private hospitals. The changes in atmosphere coupled with rains and poor sanitation was resulting in the rise of fever cases.

As the mosquito menace is also high, cases of malaria and dengue are being reported in the city. Doctors advised citizens against self-medication. They said one should get tests done to find out as to which variant of flu the fever was. Though the number of Covid cases have gone down, one should not take any kind of risk, they said.

The Head of Paediatrics Department in Ruia hospital, Dr AS Kireeti, told The Hans India that the majority of the fever cases were not serious. He said as viral fever spreads through droplets, it is better to follow hand hygiene, self-distance and use of face masks. A senior physician Dr P Krishna Prasanthi said it is important to recognise the symptoms early and avoid self-treatment.

Patients should consult a doctor to find out if it was malaria, dengue, or viral. She added that Tirupati needs a fever hospital and a fever clinic at the Ruia hospital with a team of physician, paediatrician and a community medicine doctor.

They need to take the blood samples of the patients and if there is any decrease in platelet count they need to be followed up. This can bring down the expenditure to the patient and the government can also keep track of the patients.

Since the government is not accepting the kit method in detecting malaria and dengue cases by private doctors, they have to send the samples to the VRDL lab in SVIMS where the ELISA test can be done free of cost. She also suggested that banners with toll free numbers be displayed in urban slums so that those with fever can contact the doctor immediately.