In a relief to the district health department officials, Patiala has witnessed a sharp drop in the number of dengue positive cases reported this year.
Only 93 positive cases have come to fore so far as compared to last year’s 1,263 by October 18. Patiala district had topped the state last year in dengue positive cases as 2,332 cases were reported from here.
But this year, the health department has managed to control the dengue menace through multiple initiatives and campaigns.
Deputy commissioner Kumar Amit has ordered the health department to register first information reports (FIRs) against owners of residential or commercial units where breeding of dengue larvae is found.
The department has managed to control the dengue menace in district, but the risk of dengue is not over yet as the menace is no the rise in the neighbouring districts.
An official of the health department, pleading anonymity, said that the dengue patients of neighbouring districts are coming to government and private hospitals in Patiala. As a result, the risk of rise in number of dengue positive cases continues to loom over the district.
District epidemiologist Dr Sumeet Singh said, “We are still inspecting residential and commercial establishment across the length and breadth of the district, which is the home bastion of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.”
{{/usCountry}}District epidemiologist Dr Sumeet Singh said, “We are still inspecting residential and commercial establishment across the length and breadth of the district, which is the home bastion of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.”
{{/usCountry}}“We are still continuing the drive to find and destroy dengue larvae at residental and official areas. We have destroyed dengue larvae at 344 places so far this year,” he said.
“Besides this, we have given strict instruction to the hospitals and educational institutes in the district to take preventive measures to avert the menace,” he added.
The district health department has also launched a Patiala Dengue Monitoring App (PDMA) to cub the dengue disease.
The app has two main purposes — informatory and reporting.
The epidemiologist said that through the app, citizens can access information of all dos and don’ts related to dengue and spot nearby dengue testing centres.
“Citizens can go to checkup link to check for the dengue symptoms so that they can be directed to the nearby testing centres,” he said.