Winged menace: Despite the cold, 478 dengue cases surface; officials baffled

At a time when burgeoning cases of swine flu and deaths are presenting a challenge to the state health department,a sudden spurt in the cases of dengue has put the state health officials on their toes.  In January this year, a total of 478 cases of dengue has been reported across the state.  This figure is a matter of concern because last year (2017),only 56 cases were reported in the month of January. Data from the health department shows that more than 50% of the total dengue positive in the state are found in Jaipur as the state capital remains the worst affected district with 266 cases reported in January this year. Bharatpur is the second with 28 cases followed by Alwar Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Kota, Ajmer, Nagaur and Sawai Madhopur with 26, 22, 18,16, 15, 13, 10 and 10 cases respectively. As per the record, Dholpur, Karauli, Churu, Tonk, Jodhpur and Bundi also registered 5 to 10 cases of dengue. As per the state health department data, 8,427 dengue positive cases and 14 deaths due to the disease were registered in 2017. This year,though, until now no death has occurred but the number of people suffering from dengue has increased.

“This increase in the number of cases in dengue patients can be attributed to the day-time temperature which is continuously touching above normal levels, the favourable condition for breeding of mosquitoes,” Dr VK Mathur, director, public health said. “To control the situation, the department is speeding up anti-larval activities,”he added.

Under the wake of current situation, State additional chief secretary Veenu Gupta reviewed the situation of seasonal diseases in the districts through video conferencing held last week.Gupta directed officials to seriously screen the neighbouring houses of people who tested positive for seasonal diseases. She also directed district officials to carry out field monitoring.