Self medication a major factor for Covid surge in Ukhrul: CMO
Source: The Sangai Express / Mungchan Zimik
Ukhrul, May 30 2021:
Chief Medical Officer of Ukhrul Dr Kapangring has made it very clear that the reluctance of the people of Ukhrul to visit health centres to get their Covid status confirmed and their mindset to prefer Home Isolation over spending some days at Covid Care Centres should be done away with if the fight against the virus is to bear any positive results.
During a brief interaction with this correspondent, the CMO said the conventional mindset of the people of Ukhrul to go in for self medication at home and reluctance to get oneself tested is one of the primary reasons for the surge in the number of positive cases in the district.
Stating that early detection and early medication are the mantras to take the fight to the virus, the CMO said anyone who had come into close contact with an infected person or has developed any sort of symptoms should immediately come forward for testing and medication.
This will help in curbing the spread of the virus.
To buttress his stand, the CMO said that many from remote villages of Ukhrul district who have tested positive have had no travel outside the district and this can only mean that they contracted the virus from within.
Many more have come to the Ukhrul District Hospital with complaints of flu like fever, cough, headache etc.
All these have symptoms which are similar to COVID-19 infection.
The District Health Department now highly suspects that the virus could have spread all over the district, making everyone vulnerable, he added.
Recalling the out break of the second wave in the district, the CMO said that the first case was detected from a non-local driver who brought in essential commodities from other States in the first week of April.
The virus then soon spread and the number of active cases at present stands at 364 with 131 actives cases, said the CMO adding that 13 people have already died from the virus.
One feasible reasons for the spread of the virus could be the socialisation and home visitations amongst the local people with no face masks, he said.
"We often delay in going to hospital and simply stay at home until our health deteriorates," said the doctor.
According to UDH, the district has a population of 1,32,908 and out of this a total of 10,656 people have been vaccinated till date.
7,769 have received their first dose and while 2,887 have got their second jab (total 10,656 dose).
Out of the total who have been vaccinated, 1,934 are health workers, 5,029 are frontliners, and 402 doses have been given to people in the age group of 18 to 44 .