Bengaluru, 25 June

With dengue cases being reported in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed officials to take seriously the detection and treatment of the viral infection.

Siddaramaiah, who had convened a meeting with Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and senior officers, also instructed them to ensure availability of treatment, medicine and platelets.

According to the chief minister's office, a total of 5,374 cases and five deaths have been reported in the state till Monday.

The Central government guidelines state that the dengue case fatality rate should not exceed 0.5 per cent. The case fatality rate in the state is 0.09 per cent, which is far less than the prescribed limit, it said.

More cases have been reported from Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Mysuru, Haveri, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada districts. As many as 1,230 cases have been reported in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits.

Siddaramaiah said the government has taken this seriously and has directed the officers to take all measures to control the disease. He directed officers to ensure availability of all necessary treatment facilities and medicines in all government hospitals. He also told them to conduct door-to-door surveys and create awareness among the public, and also to rope in ASHA workers, nursing students, NSS students and other volunteers for this purpose.

At the meeting it was decided that a special mission will be held to take up intense source reduction activity every Friday.

Siddaramaiah instructed the BBMP, Urban Development Department and Health Department officers to jointly review the dengue situation in the state, and also instructed Urban local bodies to take necessary steps for sanitation and avoid accumulation of water.

He appealed to the public to cooperate with the authorities to control the disease by destroying the 'Aedes aegypti' larvae that can spread dengue at the source. -PTI