IDSP and Doctors' role in it

If every Doctor knows about this IDSP and follows its guidelines, Dengue, and all other infectious diseases with the Non-Communicable diseases also, could be effectively prevented and eliminated. Read about it here.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) is the component of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of India. This programme was started in November 2004. Under this programme the disease case detection at all levels is simpler by using simpler case definitions.With it, diseases incidence data can be retrieved on all levels from Primary Health centre areas to all India level through District and State levels.

Objectives of IDSP:

1) District-based surveillance for Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases.

2) Integration of all existing surveillance programmes.

3) Forecasting of any impending epidemic.

4) Analyzing data and planning for control or eradication of Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases.

   

Uses of IDSP:

1) Linking all health systems - Primary, Secondary, Tertiary care institutions and Private institutions provides high quality IDSP data collection.

2) Informing the immediately superior health personnel avoids the delay in receiving orders from higher authourities for early action to prevent effectively any impending epidemic and thereby for the prevention of resultant morbidity and mortality in the area concerned. 

3) Instant retrieval of surveillance data by Central Government health authourities through the website of IDSP portal for analyzing the health problems in States. This avoids the delay in getting reports from the concerned States.  

   

Expected role of Hospital Doctors in IDSP:

1) Doctors must write provisional diagnosis legibly in the OPD register.

2) They should report about the suspected cases to District Surveillance Officer (Deputy Director of Health Services) over phone; they should also write the addresses of such cases in OPD register. 

3) Doctors should refer such suspected cases to laboratory for the relevant investigations.

Courtesy: Dr.S.Balasubramanian M.B.,B.S., D.P.H.

Community participation in Dengue prevention

We read about the FAQs about Dengue prevention in the previously posted article. Community participation is the best and the foremost one in bringing down the Dengue incidence to zero/ providing and maintaining its totally prevented status - no Dengue in the community!  What is the sensible and active participation of entire community in the prevention of Dengue fever?

Awareness:

First the community must be aware of Dengue fever itself and the Aedes mosquitoes that spread it - Health Inspectors and Health Nurses provide IEC (Information, Education & Communication) to people to be aware of them.

Demanding fogging:

In case if mosquitoes are found in their locality, the community people must demand the health authourities to spray insecticide-fog to kill the mosquitoes. If this fogging is also started again just before any raining and repeated on the 7th day following the first one, it protects them not only from mosquito bites but also from Dengue fever.

Destroying breeding places:

They must cooperate with health staff in avoiding mosquito breeding in low level area where water collects to breed mosquitoes, by draining the stagnant water safely and leveling the ground with sand. They should also identify the locations both inside and nearby their houses where mosquito larvae can breed  in water collections - of such as water pots, flower pots, coconut shells. These containers must be periodically emptied or removed from the site. 

Killing larvae:

They must keep all the stored water containers covered and also allow health staff to add anti-larval liquid to the water stored to kill the larva. Health staff shall repeat this later on the 7th day. They can also breed fish in ponds that feast on the mosquito larvae.

Personal protection:

People shall cover their exposed body parts or apply mosquito repellant and sleep under medicated mosquito net to get ultimate protection from Dengue fever.

About Intra-nasal Swine Flu vaccine

As you know a painless vaccine for the prevention of Swine Flu by intra-nasal route has been introduced in India and approved by Tamil Nadu Government. An excerpt from an article about it has been given below:
‘The vaccine is approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for usage by any individual above three years of age, except pregnant women’

Read more here about the vaccine in this article:
Intra-nasal Vaccine for the prevention of H1N1