SHILLONG, April 6: Growing cases of death due to meningococcal meningitis in the past one month has prompted Meghalaya to go for a mass vaccination in Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts. With cases of death reported from Khasi-Haintia Hills mounting in the past two months, the expert committee constituted by Union Health Department as well as the National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) have recommended to the State Government for mass vaccination in the first week of February. Since the first case of meningococcal meningitis was detected, there have been 229 deaths reported only from government hospitals and maximum are from Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills. West Khasi Hills official cases of death stand at 15 in the last one week. The statistics of other private hospitals and small clinics is still not known.
The disease is set assume an epidemic proportion and the State is set to live up with the recommendations of the NICD and the expert committee. “Nothwistanding the vigorous campaign carried by the State Health Department to contain the air-borne disease, the upward curve has made our department to seriously push with the higher ups for a mass vaccination at the earliest,” stated a health official in the government. The Director of Health Services (DHS) Dr AS Kynjing told newsmen today, “We are waiting for the medical kits from the Centre to undergo the mass vaccination campaign that is tentatively listed to kick start from mid April”.
The plan for the proposed mass vaccination will go on a phased manner and it will cover East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi district. The first phase and third phase will cover 3.5 lakh of population and the second phase will try to reach 3 lakh. However, as the Meghalaya Health Department prepares to undertake a herculean task, the DHS message to the people is ‘cleanliness is still the best measure to cage this spreading disease’.
Meanwhile, the Shillong Civil Hospital has witnessed four deaths in the isolation ward for suspected meningitis in the past two days. THE SENTINEL
The disease is set assume an epidemic proportion and the State is set to live up with the recommendations of the NICD and the expert committee. “Nothwistanding the vigorous campaign carried by the State Health Department to contain the air-borne disease, the upward curve has made our department to seriously push with the higher ups for a mass vaccination at the earliest,” stated a health official in the government. The Director of Health Services (DHS) Dr AS Kynjing told newsmen today, “We are waiting for the medical kits from the Centre to undergo the mass vaccination campaign that is tentatively listed to kick start from mid April”.
The plan for the proposed mass vaccination will go on a phased manner and it will cover East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi district. The first phase and third phase will cover 3.5 lakh of population and the second phase will try to reach 3 lakh. However, as the Meghalaya Health Department prepares to undertake a herculean task, the DHS message to the people is ‘cleanliness is still the best measure to cage this spreading disease’.
Meanwhile, the Shillong Civil Hospital has witnessed four deaths in the isolation ward for suspected meningitis in the past two days. THE SENTINEL
No comments:
Post a Comment