Uttar Pradesh directs districts to set up dedicated dengue wing

The Ghaziabad district till Monday evening recorded 725 dengue cases this season and the figure is the second highest since the past nine years -- the highest tally was in 2021 when 1,238 cases with one fatality was reported. This year, though, no fatality has been reported so far

Taking cognisance of the rise in the number of dengue cases in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad, the state administration has directed the district officials to come up with “dedicated dengue wards” in district hospitals. These were earlier notified as Covid hospitals during the pandemic, health department officials said, adding that the dedicated facility in Ghaziabad will come up at the Sanjay Nagar Combined District Hospital.

The state government, in an order on November 14, directed the creation of dedicated wings besides getting these hospitals linked to tertiary care hospital and also to district level blood bank and laboratory for testing of samples. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The Ghaziabad district till Monday evening recorded 725 dengue cases this season and the figure is the second highest since the past nine years -- the highest tally was in 2021 when 1,238 cases with one fatality was reported. This year, though, no fatality has been reported so far.

“In line with the directions, we have developed a dedicated dengue wing at Sanjay Nagar hospital with 30 dedicated beds. We have also deployed a team of six doctors, including paediatricians, for round-the-clock duty as per roster. Adequate medicines have also been provided,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, district surveillance officer, who is also the nodal officer for the dedicated wing.

The state government, in an order on November 14, directed the creation of dedicated wings besides getting these hospitals linked to tertiary care hospital and also to district level blood bank and laboratory for testing of samples.

The communication is addressed to all divisional level health officials, chief medical officer and chief medical superintendents across the state.

“The dedicated wing is expandable up to 60 beds. Besides, we also have a 14-bed dengue ward at MMG district hospital and five beds each have been reserved at the four community health centres. There is a further provision of 200 dengue beds in different private hospitals,” Dr Gupta said.

During his visit to Ghaziabad on November 10, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak directed officials to take up a special drive across all 100 residential wards under the municipal corporation area for eradication of mosquito larvae with the help of larvicide and fogging activity.

Pathak had said several districts such as Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Aligarh, Lucknow and Ghaziabad have witnessed high incidences of dengue this year.

In Ghaziabad, most of the dengue cases have been reported from Sahibabad, Makanpur (Indirapuram), Vijay Nagar, Dasna and Maharajpur, among others.

During the past five days, from November 9-14, the district reported 18, 17, 16, 13 and 12 new dengue cases, respectively.

The health experts said the provision of dedicated dengue wing is a welcome step.

“This will help patients who do not have access to higher medical treatment facilities. But this dedicated wing should have been established during the initial stages. Now, dengue cases are on the decline and will considerably reduce as the temperature falls in the coming days. So, the purpose of a dedicated wing is lost as it has come up very late,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).