Haryana Viral Fever Kills Several Children: 10 Things to Know About The Outbreak

Over the last few days, the prevalence of high fever in Haryana has become a cause of concern. The actual cause behind Haryana viral fever is not known yet.

Several children have died in the Palwal district and this has prompted the state government to rush teams of the health department to the area.

10 things to know about the Haryana viral fever outbreak so far

1. As per reports, around 50-60 children have reported the fever in Haryana and have been admitted to different private hospitals. Eight children have lost their lives due to the fever. The villagers have alleged the government's laxity in this regard. In their opinion, the children could have been saved if the health department had intervened in time.
2. The Haryana viral fever has now gripped some adults and this has instilled fear among the residents of Chilli village. It is home to about 4,000 people and has no government health centre. The residents claim that the health officials haven't visited them for years.
3. Dr Vijay Kumar, the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) of Hathin, Haryana told ANI that efforts were being made to control the spread of fever in the city's Chilli village. "We got news of some cases of fever and one to two deaths. Taking notice of that, our health teams have come here," he said. They are conducting surveys and providing medicines to the patients.
4. The doctors have started testing the patients with fever for COVID-19, dengue and malaria. They are also testing for other causes of the fever. "We have taken samples of 80 people who are having fever," Dr Kumar said. He added that no cases of Malaria have been reported. Four out of five children died because of dengue and many others are ill.
5. A local resident told the ANI that according to the doctors, the deaths are taking place due to Dengue. He further said that there must be about 30 cases of the disease but no health workers have visited their area.
6. The sarpanch of the village, Naresh said that the cases of fever started showing up around 15 days back. He believed that people were falling ill because of "contaminated water". Though there were no cases of Malaria, some cases of dengue were reported during testing in government hospitals.
7. The centre has directed states and Union Territories to follow preventive measures against vector-borne diseases like dengue "without cutting any corners for safety" from Coronavirus as a large number of states reported the rise of  fevers.
8. In his letter to chief secretaries and administrators of all states and Union Territories, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that to minimise the risk of transmission, entomological surveillance, source reduction activities and prompt vector control measures should be implemented.
9. Bhushan underlined the necessity of keeping rapid response team ready with all important logistics for timely deployment in order to combat any fever outbreak.
10. All hospitals should be alerted for the preparation of contingency plans, ensuring the availability of necessary diagnostics, drugs and other supplies for treating or managing vector-borne cases of diseases, the authorities have stated.

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