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Dengue outbreak sparks panic among residents in Bhopal
Dengue outbreak in Bhopal is taking a more serious turn. In the last one week, the number of fresh cases has seen an upsurge, creating panic among the residents. The number of cases in Bhopal has crossed 300.
The dengue outbreak in Bhopal is taking a more serious turn, as in last one week or so the number of fresh cases has abruptly seen an upsurge. In fact, the total number of dengue cases in Bhopal has crossed 300, creating a sort of panic among the residents, especially in those areas, like Kolar and Arera Colony, where a large number of cases have been detected.
Overall across MP, the total number of dengue cases has gone up to 971 this year and nine people have died of dengue in the state, said officials of the health department.
While the administration claimed that it was doing all that was possible to arrest the spread of dengue, health experts said dengue outbreaks evolve quickly, requiring emergency response to control infected mosquitoes.
Joint director (vector diseases) Dr Mohan Singh told HT that given the nature and transmission of dengue they alone cannot check its spread. "It has to be a coordinated fight, in which people also have to come forward in a big way," he said.
Residents in Bhopal are worried about the rising number of dengue cases. "I never thought I would suffer from dengue. But just a few days back, I started feeling ill, feverish and kept vomiting. My platelet count plummeted to 25,000. I had to be admitted to the JP Hospital and now I keep worrying that my mother, sister and brother back home should not contract dengue," said Dipankar, who lives in Arera Colony.
The BMC has started fining individuals and institutions found responsible for insanitation and stagnation of water. The BMC also claims that it has intensified the door-to-door survey of dengue larvae, especially in affected areas. According to BMC officials, ten teams have been set up to check dengue in Kolar and five teams are working in the rest of the city.
However, questions are being raised about the government's approach to check dengue. A Central government health expert on dengue who visited various districts last month also expressed his dissatisfaction at state health department's fight against dengue.
Dr Sher Singh Kashyotia, assistant director from Monitoring and Evaluation Division of National Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme, New Delhi said patients should not have died here as mortality rate of dengue is only .5 %, adding that coordination among different departments and people was a must for checking the outbreak of the disease.
