Priyanka Vadra demands better health facilities in UP

After 29 cases of mite-borne rickettsiosis, known as 'scrub typhus', were detected in Mathura, Congress General Secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday demanded better health facilities in the state. She said in a tweet in Hindi: "Firozabad, Mathura, Agra and other places in UP, children and adults have died due to fever which is heart-wrenching. UP government should step in immediately to control the disease and provide better health facilities." As per reports the health department has sounded an alert after the lab reports confirmed that 29 patients, aged between two to 45 years, had tested positive on Sunday. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The most common symptoms include fever, headache, body aches and sometimes rash. In severe cases, it can result in pneumonitis, encephalitis, mental changes ranging from confusion to coma, congestive heart failure and circulatory collapse. Additional director of Uttar Pradesh health department AK Singh, said: "At least 29 cases of scrub typhus have been reported in Mathura district.