Allahabad city colonies to turn into 'Viral Nagars'

05 September, 2012

With just a cursory look at the places badly hit by viral fever, one would notice that most of them are congested localities or those located in low-lying areas, suffering from frequent power failure, consumption of polluted water, gross in-sanitation, water-logging and the rest of it.

ONE MAY bear with humidity if there is electricity and fans keep on moving, but this does not happen. In the interior of the city or in congested areas very often people take off their shirts because the heat becomes unbearable on account of the fans not working. They invite the danger of being stung by mosquitoes. And if the mosquito has malarial tendencies, the victim could land in hospital.

But even otherwise, when he is fast asleep and suddenly in the dead of night power supply is restored and his fan and cooler start functioning again, he would never know when his bare body caught chill, which could turn into flu or assume the form of viral fever accompanied by cough and cold as also severe body pain.

Doctors now say that if the viral fever does not pass off within four days it could lead to pneumonia; and that could prove to be very dangerous, especially in the case of tiny tots. A press report says that within two days ending last evening, some 2080 viral-affected patients were admitted to SRN Hospital, Bell and Colvin Hospitals. The number of seizures could be much higher because this figure does not include the victims who might have rushed in alarming numbers to private hospitals and nursing homes in order to get better and prompt attention and care. Some might be visiting private doctors, Hakims, Vaids and Homoeopaths.

I have been stating in the past and would like to repeat that health authorities should release the figure of cases admitted to private hospitals as well. They must also contact city's leading Homoeopaths, Vaids and Hakims to note down their figures as well.They must be having the statistics but they might deliberately not be releasing them as that would mean that a disease is raging in an epidemic form for which they could be hauled up. But by withholding the true picture they are doing gross disservice to the common man who becomes easily vulnerable as he presumes that no epidemic is around and abandons the care and caution, only to be trapped by the disease.

A report says that not all medicines are being effective. It is said that even if the fever comes down, there is nausea, lack of appetite and the sufferer feels giddy. If one throws a glance at the places badly hit by viral fever one would notice that most of them are congested localities or those located in low-lying areas, suffering from frequent power failure, consumption of polluted water, gross insanitation, water-logging and the rest of it. The localities are Chowk, Kareli, Roshanbagh, Himmatganj, Kaladanda, Nakhas Kohna, Sabzi Mandi, Rani Mandi, Meerapur, Sulemsarai, Dhoomanganj, Naya Purva, Rajrooppur, Allahpur and Katra. A report says that in almost every household a viral-fever victim is to be found. In some houses two or more cases have been reported.