No surge in seasonal diseases in NTR district: officials

Despite extremely heavy rain, more than 150 mm, pounding various parts of NTR district on August 13 and 14, there has not been any outbreak of seasonal diseases, either vector-borne or viral fevers, said District Malaria Officer Moti Babu.

While Cheemalapadu, a village in A. Konduru mandal, reported a few fever cases in July, the situation was brought under control immediately, Mr. Moti Babu said, adding that medical camps were set up and screenings were held for people in neighbouring habitations as well.

This year, so far, 32 malaria cases and five dengue cases have been reported. In 2024, 36 malaria and 50 dengue cases were reported, the official said. Chikungunya cases do not get reported in the district.

“Whenever an area reports three or more cases of vector-borne diseases or viral fevers, the district administration is setting up a camp,” the official said, adding that a control room for seasonal diseases also has been set up at the Collectorate to monitor disease outbreaks in the district.

In Vijayawada, too, where waterlogging was reported in many areas last week, there has been no surge in any seasonal diseases, said Chief Medical Officer of Health, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), K. Arjuna Rao.

“In all the 35 rehabilitation centres, we have set up medical camps with teams of ASHAs and ANMs. Additional workers have been deployed to ensure that there are no stagnation points anywhere in the city,” Mr. Arjuna Rao said.

Mosquito menace

While people continue to complain about mosquito menace, especially in areas surrounding the Budameru drain, Mr. Arjuna Rao said fogging is being done regularly in all the 64 wards and anti-larval activities are also being done continuously as part of source correction measures. While there was one case of dengue in July in the city, at present there are no cases of dengue or malaria, the official said.

The district administration and the corporation have been observing Friday-Dryday, as part of which many preventive measures are being taken up to ensure that there are no disease outbreaks, the official said.