E-Paper
West Bengal records over 76,000 dengue cases in 2023, nearly 10,000 more than 2022
West Bengal is the only state in India that hasn’t shared any dengue data with the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control till September 19
West Bengal has registered more than 76,000 cases of dengue this year till October 24, officials in the state health department said. This is more than last year when the state recorded 67,271 cases, the highest in the country.
“The state registered around 9,000 new dengue cases in the festive period between October 14 and October 24, taking the total number of cases this year to 76,475,” said a senior official of the state health department.
West Bengal is the only state in India that hasn’t shared any dengue data with the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control till September 19. All other states have their data on the NCVBDC website.
The state’s health secretary and the director of health services refused to divulge any data when contacted.
The NCVBDC website also doesn’t have any data on West Bengal from 2018 and 2019. In 2020 and 2021, the state recorded 5,166 and 8264 cases, respectively. Last year, West Bengal reported 30 deaths from dengue.
This year till September 19, Kerala reported 9,770 cases, followed by Karnataka with 9,185 cases and Maharashtra with 8,496 cases.
The worst affected districts in West Bengal were North 24 Parganas with 8,535 cases, followed by Kolkata with 4,427 cases, Murshidabad with 4,266 cases, Nadia with 4,233 cases and Hooghly with 3,083 cases, as of September 19.
North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and Nadia share their border with Bangladesh, which is battling its worst dengue outbreak. The state government has already alerted the bordering districts.
“The districts sharing borders with Bangladesh have been alerted. While the neighbouring country is witnessing its worst outbreak, bordering districts in the state have also been alerted to keep an extra vigil,” said a senior state health department official.
