Sundergarh: At least 13 new cases of scrub typhus were detected in Odisha’s Sundergarh in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of patients in the district to 263 on Thursday.
According to new chief district medical officer (CDMO) of Sundargarh Dr Dharanidhar Satpathy, of the 69 samples that were tested, 13 were found to be positive for scrub typhus. The district has reported 263 scrub typhus cases so far this year.
The mite-borne bacterial disease, which has been on a steady rise in western Odisha, has emerged as a major challenge for the health authorities to curb spread of infection.
Rise in scrub typhus cases has become a cause of major concern for the health administration as it happened amid the fight to contain dengue spread in the district.
Scrub typhus infection spreads through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The common symptoms of the disease include fever and a black inflamed mark on the skin called ‘eschar’. People who frequently visit farmland or forests are vulnerable to the infection.
Apart from scrub typhus, the district reported 322 dengue cases till Tuesday. The administration is taking necessary steps to contain the spread of the two diseases.
Sources in the Health department said out of 162 samples tested at Ispat General Hospital (IGH) on Wednesday, 19 came positive for dengue. Of the 322 dengue-positive cases reported till Tuesday, 130 were detected in the captive township of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), 54 from Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) limits and 14 from areas of the South Eastern Railway (SER). The rest 124 dengue cases were reported from different parts of the district.
The administration has intensified awareness campaigns to educate the vulnerable population about the disease. Doctors of all government health institutions have also been educated on scrub typhus symptoms and treatment.
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