Ratia Public Health Dept to get notice for diarrhoea outbreak

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 20

The Health Department will serve notice on the Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) at Ratia in Fatehabad district where two children died of diarrhea on Monday.

Civil Surgeon Dr Ashok Chaudhary confirmed the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of the PHE Department would be served notice for putting health of residents. “All 10 samples failed the Ortotolidine (OT) test for chlorine. Report of six samples taken from waterworks has not been received,” he said.

Meanwhile, number of patients treated at a Ratia government hospital has reached 159. Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr VK Jain said all but 65 patients had been discharged.

Nearly 400 patients visited a camp organised by the Health Department today in Tibba Colony, where the outbreak was reported, the SMO said.

The two deceased children — Suraj (10) and Soma (6) — were from Tibba Colony.

INLD MLA from Ratia Ravinder Baliala and former MLA Jarnail Singh of the Congress visited patients in the hospital. They demanded Rs 10 lakh each in compensation for families of the children.

Vijay Kumar Garg, Director (Vector Borne Diseases), said the two children died because they were treated by quacks.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) NK Solanki also visited the hospital and inquired about the health of patients.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Pooja Chanwaria said the PHE Department had been told to change water pipes wherever seepage had been reported.

“Water supply to the colony is suspended. Drinking water is being supplied through tanks,” she added.

Dept caps rates for dengue, chikungunya tests

Panipat: The Health Department has directed private hospitals and laboratories not to charge more than Rs 600 for dengue and chikungunya tests. The directive was issued at a meeting between Civil Surgeon Dr Inderjeet Singh Dhankar, and owners of private laboratories and members of Indian Medical Association (IMA) here today. “The department has fixed Rs 600 for NS1 (dengue) and IgM (chikangunya) tests, and Rs 1,000 for reverse transcription-polymerisation chain reaction (RT-PCR) test of chikungunya," he said. Department officials said several private hospitals and laboratories were charging around Rs 2,500 for two tests, and Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 for a single test. "The private hospitals and laboratories have to display a rate list for tests on their notice boards," Dr Dhankar said. Doctors, he said, had been directed to inform the district health authorities if they found any suspected or confirmed case of dengue or chikungunya. “There has been no outbreak of chikungunya, dengue and Japanese encephalitis in the district. Only two cases of dengue have been reported, while none of chikungunya,” Dr Dhankar added. tns