Panchkula district has registered 1,988 dengue cases this year, an increase of 119.42% compared to 906 cases in 2021. In 10 years before 2021, less than 200 cases were reported annually. Even now, at least 10 cases are being reported per day.
Five people have also lost their lives to the disease. This figure does not include at least 15 “mysterious” deaths in September, which was later confirmed by experts at PGIMER as dengue deaths.
It was in September when a major dengue outbreak was reported from a few colonies in Kalka and Pinjore, where most residents are labourers. As many as 778 cases were reported in September, it rose to 821 in October and declined to 385 in November.
One of the reasons behind the high number of cases is the dengue variant-2 (DENV-2), which is severe and may be fatal.
Panchkula civil medical officer Dr Mukta Kumar, said, “In Panchkula, we carried out thousands of tests and didn’t try to hide the numbers. I believe in diagnosis and taking appropriate measures.”
PGIMER has trained doctors working with the Panchkula health department in managing dengue patients.
{{/usCountry}}PGIMER has trained doctors working with the Panchkula health department in managing dengue patients.
{{/usCountry}}While 457 dengue cases have been reported from urban areas, Kalka and Pinjore logged 422 and 341 cases, respectively. As many as 221 cases were reported from Surajpur, 215 from Old Panchkula, 120 from Nanakpur and 104 from Kot.
Raipur Rani has logged 54 cases; Hangola, 16; Barwala, 21; and Morni reported 13 cases.
Also, 139 chikungunya cases have been reported from the district, of which 71 are from urban Panchkula and 43 from old Panchkula.