Communicable Disease Surveillance during Gujarat, India Earthquake, 2001: A Survey

Abstract

During Gujarat earthquake in 2001, to keep a watch on the health problems and for effective control measures, disease surveillance activities were carried out. Every day different teams were sent to the field to collect the information about the morbidity and creating awareness about personal hygiene and use of safe chlorinated water, collection of blood smear for malaria parasite, identifying the mosquito breeding places etc. During the surveillance period a total of 261 health teams visited 510 villages of Kutchh region thereby covering a total of 141686 individuals. 691 cases of diarrhoea, 703 cases of fever, 89 cases of erythematous fever and 13 cases of jaundice were reported during the functioning of surveillance cell. Few cases of measles, chickenpox and hepatitis A were reported during the surveillance period. To conclude the disease surveillance activities helped in averting the occurrence of any epidemic of communicable disease.