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Fever death toll crosses 200: Opposition slams state health ministry, seeks Centre's help

  • The death toll in Kerala due to various types of fevers, mainly dengue, has crossed 200
  • Ramesh Chennithala termed state health minister KK Shailaja a failure and demanded her resignation
  • Besides dengue and typhoid, swine flu (H1N1) and rat fever (leptospirosis) are also being reported 
  • The Congress leader said the figures released by state health department do not reveal the true picture
fever death toll 200 state health ministry failure Chennithala central team

With the death toll in Kerala due to various types of fevers crossing 200, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that a central expert team be sent to the state to detect and assess some of the new diseases.

Besides dengue and typhoid, swine flu (H1N1 influenza) and rat fever (leptospirosis) are also being reported in Kerala. Chennithala termed state health minister KK Shailaja "an abject failure" and demanded her resignation.

The Congress leader also pointed out that the figures released by the state health department do not reveal the true picture of the raging fever as these figures relate to only those who have sought treatment in state-run hospitals.

CM Pinarayi launches cleanliness drive to check fever cases [Video]

"We are not going to make this epidemic-like situation in Kerala into a political issue where lakhs of people are down with fever and the death toll has crossed more than 200 in the past few months. While the neighbouring states have all effectively contained the spread of fever, in Kerala it has been a callous attempt to tackle the fever outbreak," Chennithala told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

"I will ask Union health minister (JP Nadda) to send a high-level expert team to Kerala to ascertain the real cause of death as a few new diseases seem to have been reported here," he added.

After dengue and H1N1, now rat fever threatens Kerala

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan engaged in a 'massive cleanliness drive' in his home district Kannur on Tuesday , while CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was out on the streets in the capital along with senior party leaders and cleaned up the state-run General Hospital, where thousands are seeking treatment for fever.

However, Chennithala alleged that precious time was lost to commence the cleanliness drive and that funds meant to be given to various local bodies were diverted to a different programme". He also alleged that a CPM feeder organisation was given Rs 2 crore.

(with agency inputs)

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