A worrisome reality or hyped scare?

HYDERABAD: People are shivering at the very mention of dengue fever as private hospitals have been looting people in the name of treating them for dengue without conducting proper tests on them.Making the most of the situation, these hospitals are collecting huge amounts by transfusing platelets into patients though such a need does not exist in a majority of the cases.Giving an example, additional director in the department of health Raja Prasanna Kumar told Express that private hospitals in Kurnool district treated as many as 600 patients for alleged dengue.When government health officials went through the records, none of the cases was found positive.Private hospitals are treating patients after conducting a test by using Rapid Diagnostic Kit, but Kumar said that doctors must conduct an NS1 antigen test and an Elisa test for confirmation before giving dengue treatment.The health wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation referred 65 cases, which corporate hospitals have treated as dengue, to the Institute of Preventive Medicine but the IPM found that 31 of the 65 cases were not dengue positive.Notwithstanding the false alarm, dengue cases continue to rise across the state.According to Prasanna Kunmar, only 25 dengue positive cases were reported between Oct 24 and 29, but the number is much higher if unofficial reports are to be believed.The number of cases reported till Oct 24 is 611.NIV Expert in hyderabad to Study Hanta CasesThe state government has invited an expert from the National Institute of Virology, Pune in Maharashtra following reports of Hanta virus in the state.He is expected to reach here by Sunday evening.According to sources in the department of health, the government has decided to invite the expert after watching the news of a corporate hospital claiming on October 28 that it was treating a first ‘Hanta-infected patient’ in the state.There are also reports of two alleged deaths due to the mysterious virus in Nellore district.The NIV expert will confirm whether the three patients were infected with Hanta or not.He will also discuss with officials the symptoms of Hanta.