Adilabad, November 08: Dengue and viral fevers are worrying people in the district what with the toll mounting to 50 within a month.
Several others, including children and the elderly, are suffering from symptoms of the fevers which have stalked Agency areas in particular. Of the 50 who died, 22 belonging to tribal hamlets died of dengue and the remaining fell victims to viral fever.
Some others suffering from fever and suspected to have contracted dengue were shifted to Hyderabad and Karimnagar hospitals.
Dengue has not spared even Adilabad MP Rathod Ramesh. He has just recovered.
The victims of dengue include Togari Manoj (5) of Ramakrishnapur, who died on Tuesday this week while under going treatment at MGM hospital in Warangal. M Laxmi and Manoj of Mandamarri, VRO Durgaiah of Kyathanpalli also died of dengue recently.
Rajaiah of Mulkala in Mancherial mandal and Laxmi (8) of Chennur town also died undergoing treatment for dengue in Hyderabad last month. There is criticism that lack of awareness about the diseases and poor sanitation are leading to rise in deaths.
Many of the tribals have been criticising the Health officials for their negligence in creating awareness about the fevers.
There is also an opinion that lack of nutritious food to the children and superstitions among tribals are other reasons leading to the deaths.
The presence of 67 primary health centres (PHCs) in the district including 10 in Agency areas, and 469 sub-health centres including 173 in tribal areas have been failing to check the spread of the fatal fevers.
This is because, the villagers say, the doctors and staff of the centres have been failing to discharge their duties properly. Not interested in staying in the rural areas, the doctors and staff of the centres reside in nearby towns and commute to their workplace daily.
They are not present in the centres majority of the time, the villagers alleged.
However, District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) M Manikya Rao maintained that there were no cases of dengue or viral fevers reported from any place in the district.
Steps are being taken to create awareness about the fevers among tribals and rural masses, he added.
—Agencies