• State Govt. fixes rates for dengue tests in private hospitals, diagnostic labs
• Rs. 600 fixed for NS1 antigen and IgM tests

Mysuru/Bengaluru: In a bid to prevent and control the spread of dengue in the district, the Health Department has taken up larvae survey and awareness on dengue among the public.

According to Health Education Officer Munindramma, awareness on dengue is being created by distributing handbills containing information on dengue prevention to the public.

She further said that, ASHA workers and staff of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) are visiting house-to-house and conducting larvae survey. They are looking for discarded tyres, empty coconut shells, fresh water storage containers like drums and cement tanks, as Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, which spread dengue, breeds in fresh water.

The PHC staff and ASHA workers, after identifying the larvae, inform the same to the residents and are destroying the larvae in front of them, the Health Education Officer added. 

State Government caps dengue testing charges

The State Government yesterday issued an order capping dengue testing rates in private hospitals at Rs. 300 per ELISA NS1 antigen and IgM antibody test.

A total of Rs. 600 has been fixed for two types of tests — Rs. 300 each for NS1 antigen test and IgM testing. Private hospitals and laboratories are prohibited from charging more than Rs. 600 for these tests as per the order.

This was decided after Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao met the officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Urban and Rural Development Departments at Vidhana Soudha here yesterday.

While Government Hospitals conduct dengue testing and treatment for free, the charges for dengue tests, including the rapid screening tests, in private hospitals and diagnostic laboratories vary between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, often offered in fever packages.

The Health Minister, who has already held a meeting with the officials and issued instructions about precautions to control dengue, will convene a meeting via video conference with Deputy Commissioners, ZP CEOs and officials concerned today.