It’s better to find 100 real cases than under-report the actual scenario, Uttar Pradesh’s top bureaucrat Amit Mohan Prasad, who is handling the outbreak of Zika virus in Kanpur, told News18.com.
Designated as Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Health and Family Welfare in Uttar Pradesh, Prasad has asked his team of officers to “focus on aggressive contact-tracing and testing”.
“I have told my team not to worry about a higher number of cases. If we were doing nothing to trace, the total cases would have been very few. In fact, we are happy that we have found the 100-odd infected cases in time by adopting scientific measures such as testing and tracing.” Prasad, a 1989 batch senior IAS officer who is known for a no-nonsense approach, told News18.com.
Kanpur has reported a total of 107 Zika virus cases while one has been reported in Kannauj, of which 18 have turned negative. Out of these total cases, three women are pregnant. Dr Nepal Singh, chief medical officer, Kanpur, said the women are under close monitoring, adding that ultrasound and tests have been done and foetuses will be monitored over time to check their development.
Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her foetus which is a cause of concern as the infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects.
According to United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Zika is usually a mild disease with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. Many people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild ones.
“As people infected with Zika largely remain asymptomatic, this viral infection could have multiplied silently. So far, the reports are negative for all the districts near Kanpur,” he said, while adding that only one person in Kannauj has tested positive due to travel history to Kanpur.
“We have conducted tests in Lucknow, Unnao, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Mathura and other districts but the reports are negative,” said the officer who is also tasked with boosting Covid-19 vaccination numbers in Uttar Pradesh.
Around 100 teams have been deployed in Kanpur to find and eliminate aquatic breeding sources of mosquito, while 100 teams have been formed to collect samples from houses, and an additional 15 rapid response teams have also been formed. The disease is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito and the disease can only be prevented, according to CDC, by avoiding mosquito bites.
The team of doctors at the block levels, engaged in contact-tracing and testing, has been asked to counsel those found positive with the infection prior to isolation. “After counselling, these people are being isolated at home or at institutions. The team has been promoting the use of mosquito nets at home, full pants and full sleeves clothing apart from conducting fogging, spraying of mosquito or anti-larva repellents.”
Earlier, all samples to detect Zika were being sent to Lucknow for diagnosis. “Now, we have started testing in Kanpur Medical College which will help in speeding up the diagnosis, further,” Prasad said.
Prasad has previously served as Special Secretary, Labour Department, Director of Health and Family Welfare, and Chief Executive Officer of Noida-Greater Noida Authority apart from other roles.
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