UP districts see uptick in dengue cases; IMA official claims health dept not 'providing updated data'
Several other districts in the state also reported a surge in dengue cases.
The Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh has reported 97 cases of dengue, its chief medical officer Nanak Saran said on Tuesday amid the major outbreak in the state that has mostly killed children. Out of these 97 cases, around nine dengue patients are admitted to hospitals at present, news agency ANI reported quoting Saran.
The senior official also informed that the cases are likely to increase further in the city along with the overall state tally. "Despite having recorded 97 cases in Prayagraj, the district has not reported any death due to dengue so far," Saran also said as per the ANI report.
Several other districts in the state also reported a surge in dengue cases. Meanwhile, Rajeev Upadhyay, President of the Indian Medical Association in Agra said that the situation is very bad claiming that the "health department is not providing the updated data". "40 to 50 per cent of the patients are coming from dengue and viral, in which 60 per cent are only children," Upadhyay said, according to the ANI report. Agra has a total of 35 cases of dengue as of Tuesday, out of which 15 are active, the government data showed.
In worst-hit Firozabad, 60 children have died due to dengue and 465 children are still admitted to the child ward of the medical college in the district. In Gorakhpur, six dengue cases have been confirmed.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that spreads widely in the monsoon season. Its symptoms include high fever, headache, rash, muscle and joint pain
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday confirmed that they have found the D2 strain of dengue in these specimens. This strain is deadlier and often causes haemorrhage. It also impacts the platelet count. "The only prevention is to stop the breeding of mosquitoes. Dengue is also a deadly disease," ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava said on September 9.