Intensified Diarrohea control fortnight in DK, Udupi districts

Intensified Diarrohea Control Fortnight (IDCF) will be held in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts from June 12 to 24.

Briefing media persons on Friday, RCHO Dr Ashok said children aged below five years suffer from diarrohea. The drive will be conducted at the onset of monsoon during which a spurt in such cases have been noticed.

He said various activities, including the visit of Asha workers to all households that have children aged below five years, will be conducted during the nation-wide Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight. ORS sachets will be given and the parents will also be counselled about the benefits and the process of preparing it, he said.

According to National Family Health Survey, 50 out of 1,000 children succumbed to diarrohea in the country in 2015-16.  

“Asha workers will visit all households and distribute ORS sachets. They will explain its benefits. The importance of this activity is that ORS will be available in the household at the time of diarrohea.

There are 1,64,965 children aged below five years in the district. With this drive, all health centres will have ORS and Zinc corners which shall continuously demonstrate the way to prepare the ORS mixture. These corners will also administer ORS and Zinc tablets to children who are in need of these during diarrhoea. Zinc tablets will be given to children who are suffering from diarrhoea, for 14 days, to develop their immunity,” he explained.

Dr Ashok said special emphasis will be laid on hand washing among schoolchildren, cooks, anganwadiassistants, as one of the main cause of diarrhoea is lack of cleanliness.

Stating that 319 children aged below five years have died due to various ailments in Dakshina Kannada in 2016-17, Dr Ashok said there was no death  in the district due to diarrhoea.

Zilla Panchayat CEO and deputy commissioner have issued directions to all the 230 PDOs and ULB commissioners and chief officers to chlorinate the sources of water before supplying to the general public. All the taluk hospital, PHCs and CHCs have been directed to clean water tanks, he said.

DK doctors to Telangana
Looking at the success of Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine immunisation campaign in Dakshina Kannada district, the Ministry of Health department has deputed two doctors from Dakshina Kannada namely Dr Chirag of Kompadav and Dr Krishnananda of Nelyadi to Telangana, to look into the implementation of MR vaccine immunisation campaign there.

They will be in Telangana for four months, in-charge DHO Dr  Sikandar Pasha said.

Meanwhile, the campaign will be held in Udupi district. Additional Deputy Commissioner Anuradha said it is a known fact that prevalence of diarrhoea is higher in slum areas due to compromised facility of hygiene and sanitation, she said.

The IDCF drive is a very cost-effective intervention to curb the risk of spread of diarrhoea.  As many as 78,419 houses with children aged below five years will be covered by Asha workers. Diarrhoea is caused by various viruses, bacteria and protozoa like rotavirus, E Coli etc. The main reasons for diarrhoeal attacks among children are contaminated water, inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene, malnutrition and lack of immunisation. The combination of ORS and Zinc tablets is the most cost-effective intervention to prevent deaths due to diarrhoea, she added. 

Kundapura incident
Replying to a query on the recent incident in which a pregnant woman was denied admission in Kundapura government hospital, district health officer Dr Rohini said that the CCTV footage has shown the incident is not gruesome as it has been reported in media.

The pregnant woman willingly got admitted to a private hospital as the staff in the government hospital said that there is no doctor to conduct delivery. The doctor had worked till 11 pm and was on leave owing to severe fever. However, the only mistake committed was she did not ask for the substitute.  The patient came to hospital at 1.10 am and left the hospital at 1.45 am and was admitted to private hospital at 2 am.

The child was delivered at 3.45 am. The patient was healthy and not experiencing the labour pain when she visited the government hospital. However, a report is submitted to the higher officials on the incident, Dr Rohini said.