CHANDIGARH: Eight people have died of dengue in many Haryana towns bordering Delhi, even as 28,000 cases of malaria have been confirmed from different places throughout the state in the current monsoon season.
"This year so far, 649 people in different age groups have tested positive for dengue. Two people have died in Gurgaon, three in Sonepat, two in Rohtak and one in Jhajjar," Haryana's Director General of Health Services, Avinash Sharma said here on Saturday.
She said nearly 380 cases of dengue have been reported from Gurgaon alone, where a health team from National Institute of Virology will soon pay a visit.
"Gurgaon being a satellite town of Delhi, another team from National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme also paid a visit," she said.
Four cases of chikungunya have also been reported from different places in Haryana in the monsoon season.
She said due to early arrival of monsoon in the region this year, malaria cases had crossed 28,000 as against 27,000 upto September end last year and 31,000 in 2007.
Of the malarial cases, the worst affected districts were Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak and Fatehabad, with over 4,000 cases being reported from these areas.
Sharma said the health department was taking steps to prevent breeding of mosquitoes around inhabited areas with methods like indoor fogging and applying insecticide in households.
"We have around 2,000 water bodies in Haryana and we are also breeding more fish to control mosquitoes. Fish eat the malarial larva and help control its population," she said.
She said the department had also been sending its teams to areas where Annual Parasitic Index exceeds 5, which means where five people test positive for malaria in a population of 1,000.
