Whenever there is an outbreak of infectious diseases or suspected cases in Telangana, the Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases, better known as Fever Hospital, comes into prominence.
Last year, when a high number of dengue cases surfaced, the government hospital became the subject of all health discussions. Even in May 2018, a person suspected to be suffering from Nipah virus was admitted there. It shot back to news after January 24 this year when the first nCoV suspected patient admitted at the hospital tested negative for the virus.
For over a century, people showing symptoms of infectious diseases such as chicken pox, measles, swine flu, etc. are quarantined here. In fact, it was earlier known as Quarantine Hospital, colloquially known as Corenti Hospital.
Current superintendent of the Fever Hospital, K. Shankar said the hospital was established in a shed in 1915 by British nurses during a cholera outbreak here. “Back then, it was on the outskirts of Hyderabad,” he said.
Unlike other hospitals, all blocks of the Fever Hospital, barring two, are on the ground floor. The wards are categorised according to disease.
For example, patients suffering from chicken pox and mumps are admitted to two different wards. Each ward is accommodated in a single floor and separated by large spaces so that chances of a disease being spread is cut down. So is the case of isolation ward where nCoV suspected patients are admitted.
“Staff, nurses and doctors at Fever Hospital are well versed with infectious diseases. As they deal with highly contagious diseases every day, they know how to attend a patient, precautions needs to be taken,” Dr Shankar said.
