Public health officials in the coastal district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, one of the worst affected by Sunday's tsunamis, are on their toes to prevent the outbreak of any epidemic in the aftermath of the devastation.
The officials have started 47 camps in 29 of the worst affected villages in the district. Each camp has one doctor, two nurses and one pharmacist equipped with 15 different drugs.
A team, consisting of a male and a female volunteers, is going from house to house in each of the 29 villages to ascertain the well-being of the residents.
Any signs of fever or diarrhoea are being dealt with immediately. All serious cases are directed to the primary health centre or to the government hospital.
Those with wounds are being given anti-tetanus shots.
The teams are carrying chlorination tablets to treat drinking water. Wells and other sources of water are being chlorinated.
For every five teams, there is a supervisor, who passes on the information obtained from the teams to the district public health officials.
If the incidence of any particular illness is high in a particular area, the officials rush to the place to contain the disease.
The officials said that vaccinations for epidemics like cholera and typhoid, which usually strike after a devastation of this sort, are useless under such situations.
Under the present circumstances, prevention is better than cure, they said.
The health authorities have also set up a separate entomology team to destroy vectors like flies and mosquitoes.
Meanwhile, 100 doctors and an equal number of nurses arrived in Kanyakumari from the Tirunelveli Medical Hospital and from hospitals in other neighbouring districts on Wednesday morning to ease the pressure on local doctors who have been on duty for more than 48 hours.
The joint directors of health from Chennai have also reached the district and the Tamil Nadu director of health is expected later in the afternoon.
