Govt to screen people for dengue at airports, railway station

New Delhi, Oct 10 (UNI) The health ministry today decided to screen people at airports, railway stations and bus stands for suspected dengue cases which has infected 3803 people in the country resulting in 52 deaths so far.

The capital continued to remain in the grip of dengue with the total number of reported cases today mounting to 1,029 and 22 people succumbing to the viral disease so far.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials said of the total cases reported till early morning, 651 were from the capital.

As the crisis continued, 43 more patients were admitted to AIIMS and as many were discharged in the past 24 hours.

Among the fresh cases, three were from the AIIMS campus. The total number of cases in the institute now stands at 173, doctors said. Of the total number of cases in AIIMS, 29 are from the institute.

No dengue deaths were reported in the hospital in the past 24 hours, the doctors said. More than 8,000 patients have been screened at the AIIMS emergency OPD since Tuesday.

In AIIMS, the management has announced a contingency plan under which 100 additional doctors and 50 interns have been put on duty in the dengue ward.

''All the additional doctors and interns will report to the Medical Superintendent of the Main Hospital for strengthening patient care,'' an AIIMS spokesperson said.

Some private wards have been converted into the general dengue ward to accommodate patients.

''Additional space has been created in the New Private Ward area (100 beds) by transferring the admitted dengue patients. Wards C-6 and D-6 have been designated as dengue wards,'' he added.

The contingency plan was decided at a meeting of heads of departments which was chaired by AIIMS Director P Venugopal yesterday.

The meeting also decided that a supervising committee of two resident doctors-- Dr Anil Sharma and Dr Binod Patra-- will work as an interface between patients and the administration.

''The committee will ensure proper coordination between the patients, the blood bank, administration and the laboratory. It will supervise the dengue operation in AIIMS,'' Dr Sharma said.

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