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Lucknow reports 39 new dengue cases, 3 of malaria
Lucknow reports 39 new dengue and 3 malaria cases, totaling 837 this year. Health teams are inspecting areas, raising awareness, and reserving hospital beds.
With 39 new dengue cases and 3 of malaria surfacing here in the last 24 hours, total such cases reported in the city from January this year has risen to 837, including 429 of dengue and 408 of malaria, as per the data shared by the chief medical officer(CMO)’s office on Saturday.
On the death of a 71-year-old woman, a suspected dengue patient, during the said period, the health department claimed she did not die of dengue. “She was suffering from acute kidney injury and severe metabolic acidosis and sudden cardiac pulmonary arrest led to her death,” the department clarified in a statement.
As cases reporting a rise each passing day, the CMO teams continued to inspect and screen the localities which are at risk. The team also sprayed insecticide there to prevent mosquito breeding. So far, no new related deaths have been reported in the state capital after the one on Friday.
Once identified, the teams visited each of these households and surrounding homes to take preventative action.
On Saturday alone, the city malaria unit and the district malaria officer, also in-charge of dengue screenings, visited 1,160 homes and found conditions favourable for mosquito breeding in six of them. The teams also spread awareness on preventive measures.
The new dengue cases were reported from Aliganj, Chander Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, NK Road, Indiranagar, Chinhat, Tudiyiaganj, Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) and Aishbagh areas. Fresh malaria came to fore in Aliganj, BKT and Chander Nagar.
On the other hand, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), in collaboration with the health department, has also been carrying out intensive campaigns at Ganeshganj, Faizullaganj, Alamnagar and Arjunganj among other areas to check spread of the two diseases.
They got the area cleaned, sprayed anti-larvae chemicals and got the fogging done. Meanwhile, government hospitals in the city namely Lok Bandhu Shri Raj Narayan Combined Hospital, Civil and Balrampur hospitals all have created special wards for dengue and malaria patients.
“We are getting a higher number of fever cases but these patients do not all test positive for malaria or dengue. However, at the rate at which cases are rising, we are expecting a majority of our reserved beds to be filled in the next two weeks,” said Lok Bandhu hospital director Dr Suresh Kaushal.
The hospital has reserved 18 beds for dengue and malaria patients. Similarly, at Balrampur and Civil hospitals too, 12 and 22 beds respectively have been reserved. King George’s Medical University and Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences have also reserved over 30 beds each for patients testing positive for vector-borne diseases.
Lucknow district malaria officer Dr Ritu Srivastava said people are advised to wear full-sleeved clothes, keep water containers covered and clean them regularly. They are also advised to change cooler water every week and sleep under a mosquito net.
