Fever surveys helped Telangana to tackle Covid

The relentless rise of daily infections during the Delta-variant driven Covid second wave forced several State governments in the country to launch containment strategies that were focused on early detection and isolation of Covid infections.

Among many such containment strategies that were implemented across the country, the unique initiative by the Telangana government to conduct fever surveys, house-to-house visits by field-level workers distributing home isolation kits and remote monitoring of patients in home quarantine through Home Isolation and Treatment Monitoring Protocol (HITAM), stood out and received wide appreciation, even from NITI Aayog.

In fact, the fever surveys, door-to-door visits by field level workers and distribution of isolation kits were later adopted successfully by several other Indian States.

During the peak of the second Covid wave, there was a heavy inflow of patients with Covid symptoms, who were desperate for RT-PCR tests. Due to the severe nature of the Delta variant, patients needed quick treatment. However, given the heavy load, it took at least 48 hours for PCR results and patients lost crucial time in getting proper treatment.

“Instead of waiting for the PCR tests, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao suggested that we should launch fever survey to identify all individuals with symptoms at the earliest. The door-to-door surveys helped to quickly identify symptomatic cases and isolate them. The fever surveys single-handedly helped us to control the Delta and Omicron,” Director of Public



Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao said.

The HITAM strategy of Telangana involved quickly identifying Covid positive patients and assessing those who needed home isolation. Such patients at home isolation were provided with special medicine kits, which was followed by close day-to-day monitoring of the health status of the positive patient through a network of trained tele-callers.

The home isolation patients received a kit comprising of Paracetamol, Cetirizine, Doxycycline, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C and Ranitidine (symptomatic and supportive treatment) along with other relevant IEC material.

In case of clinical deterioration like continuous fever, breathlessness etc, patients were immediately shifted to Covid-19 designated hospitals. The tele-callers were trained to identify such cases to be escalated for expert opinion and hospitalisation. They were made aware of emergency ambulances and Covid-19 hospitals, for quick transportation and admission.

The HITAM mobile application was developed during the first wave that enabled it to capture patient demographics, symptoms, medications, and daily progress.

The strategy of home isolation with treatment kits, integration of house-to-house fever surveys, establishing Covid clinics to monitor and identify cases and initiate treatment without waiting for test results proved to be an effective strategy to prevent overburdening of hospitals and reduce Covid-19 mortality in Telangana, the NITI Aayog report said.