Dengue claims 5 lives in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 December 2009, 03:01 GMT]
Five persons, including two resettled Vanni IDPs, in Jaffna penisula have died due to dengue fever which is spreading at an alarming rate while hospitals are unable to treat dengue patients for want of basic facilities, according to Dr. K. Ketheswaran, Jaffna Director of Public Health (DPHS). Nearly 40 to 50 dengue patients are admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) daily and they have to be accommodated along corridors due to lack of space, JTH administration said.

Nearly 300 dengue patients are admitted in the hospitals in the peninsula, DPHS said.

Most of the hospitals in the peninsula keep sending dengue patients to JTH as they do not have sufficient doctors or even basic facilities, he added.

Efforts are being made to arrest the spread of dengue and to help those suffering from it, Dr. Ketheswaran further said.

Urgent request has been extended to Health Ministry in Colombo for medicine, JTH administration said.

The unrelenting monsoon rain in the peninsula is the main cause the eruption of dengue.