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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2019 | Volume
: 24
| Issue : 2 | Page : 118-119 |
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Emphasizing on the need of preparedness and antibiotics supply for the containment of the plague outbreak
Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava1, Prateek Saurabh Shrivastava2
1 Vice-Principal Curriculum, Member of the Medical Education Unit and Institute Research Council, Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth–Deemed to be University, Ammapettai, Nellikuppam, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth–Deemed to be University, Ammapettai, Nellikuppam, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India
| Date of Web Publication | 18-Nov-2019 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava
Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (SBV) – Deemed to be University, Tiruporur - Guduvancherry Main Road, Ammapettai, Nellikuppam, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu - 603108.
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/ijmh.IJMH_23_19
How to cite this article:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS. Emphasizing on the need of preparedness and antibiotics supply for the containment of the plague outbreak. Int J Med Health Dev 2019;24:118-9 |
How to cite this URL:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS. Emphasizing on the need of preparedness and antibiotics supply for the containment of the plague outbreak. Int J Med Health Dev [serial online] 2019 [cited 2023 Jun 6];24:118-9. Available from: https://www.ijmhdev.com/text.asp?2019/24/2/118/271087 |
Dear Editor
Plague has been regarded as one of the deadliest bacterial infections in human history, which is quite common in regions with improper sanitary facilities and substandard health-care delivery services.[1] It is a zoonotic disease, and it predominantly manifests either as bubonic or pneumonic plague, both of which are quite fatal.[1] On the basis of the type of disease, it can manifest with fever, chills, headache, and painful lymphadenitis, which eventually develops into buboes.[1] The available global estimates depict that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Peru are the three most common endemic nations for the disease.[1] For time and again, outbreaks of the disease have been reported, including the one in Madagascar in 2018, wherein more than 1800 cases and 120 deaths have been reported.[2],[3] However, as the disease is linked with anxiety among the general population and is preventable, there is an urgent need to take measures to limit the spread of the disease and to reduce the associated morbidity.[2],[3]
In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out an assessment of the risk of the disease transmission depending on the health-care infrastructure of the nation.[3] Further, as a part of preparedness and reducing the risk of transmission in the surrounding nations, all the existing lacunae and gaps have been identified.[2] The WHO has scaled up its response, and appropriate steps have been taken to provide technical expertise, to perform assessments, and to strengthen the disease surveillance and active engagement of the local community in the preventive approach.[3] Moreover, actions have been taken to maintain and increase the supply of the medicine and to ensure that personal protective equipment are supplied to the health-care personnel and the affected patients for the standard implementation of the infection control measures.[2],[3]
Further, financial support has been allocated to the nation to contain the outbreak, especially for the medical supplies, and to upgrade the operational efforts.[2],[3] Also, implementation of standard measures, such as detection of the source of infection, strengthening of the laboratory services for early diagnosis, delivery of effective treatment to patients and prophylactic therapy to contacts, standard isolation practices, and encouraging safe burial practices, has been advocated.[1],[2],[3] At the same time, actions have been taken to strengthen screening services at the airport and to reduce the chances of disease transmission.[2],[3] In addition, steps have been taken to foster linkages with other concerned stakeholders for a better and well-coordinated response.[3] Moreover, different international agencies have also extended their support for the containment of the disease.[3]
In conclusion, concerted efforts have been taken to contain the disease outbreak in the nation. However, it is high time that the focus should be diverted toward having a better preparedness through adequate financial support.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | World Health Organization. Plague—Key facts. 2017. Available from: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague. [Last accessed on 2019 Aug 17].  |
| 2. | Kmietowicz Z. Pneumonic plague outbreak hits cities in Madagascar. BMJ 2017;359:j4595. |
| 3. | World Health Organization. Madagascar plague: Mitigating the risk of regional spread. 2017. Available from: http://who.int/features/2017/madagascar-plague-risk/en/. [Last accessed on 2019 Aug 17]. |
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