In the wake of Kerala floods, diarrhea, dengue on the rise in the state: Health ministry

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday, 30 August said cases of **leptospirosis** , acute diarrhea and **dengue** **are rising** in flood-hit Kerala and that the Centre is closely monitoring the situation. Union Health Minister J P Nadda along with other ministry officials reviewed **flood relief measures** and said the Centre is **coordinating** with the state. According to the ministry, the Centre will be sending 30 specialist doctors, 20 general duty medical officers and 40 Malayalam-speaking nurses who will be arriving in Kerala on Friday, 31 August. [caption id=“attachment_5086301” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] An aerial image of people in Kerala waiting for aid next to makeshift rafts at a badly-flooded area. Reuters[/caption] “Also, 12 public health teams, each comprising one **public health** specialist, a microbiologist and one entomologist are being deployed to assist the state health department in various public health measures,” it said. The Centre has so far supplied 73 MT of essential **emergency drugs** . “As per the additional request received from Kerala, 58 items of essential drugs/consumables weighing about 120 MT, and 40 ultra low volume (ULV) **fogging machines** are also being sent to the state,” the Ministry said.