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As dengue cases rise, BRS urges T’gana government to declare health emergency
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Tuesday demanded declaration of a health emergency in Telangana in the wake rising dengue fever cases in the state.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Tuesday demanded declaration of a health emergency in Telangana in the wake of a steep increase in the number of dengue fever cases in the state over the last week.
While the official bulletin doesn’t mention any deaths due to dengue fever till date, BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR), quoting field reports in various vernacular media, said five deaths were reported on Saturday and three more deaths on Monday.
“Who is hiding the data and why? It is time the government admits there is a serious problem and declare a health emergency,” he said.
According to a health bulletin released by the director of public health and family welfare on Monday evening, the number of Dengue fever cases went up by 724 between August 21 and August 25. The total number of dengue cases in the state on August 25 was 5,372, as against 4,648 recorded on August 21.
The health bulletin said that out of 81,932 samples tested since January 1 this year, 5,372 cases were positive, with the percentage of positivity being 6.5%. The highest number of cases has been recorded in Hyderabad, with 1,852 cases, followed by Suryapet (471), Medchal Malkajgiri (426), Khammam (375), Nalgonda (315), Nizamabad (286), Rangareddy (232), Jagtial (185), Sangareddy (160), and Warangal (110).
Expressing concern over the rising dengue cases in the state, KTR said the government should take serious note of the situation and declare a health emergency in the state.
He stated that government hospitals were facing a shortage of medicines and three-four patients are being forced to share a single bed in most hospitals, due to increasing cases.
Meanwhile, the bulletin said the state also reported 152 cases of Chikungunya this season till Sunday. While Hyderabad reported 61 cases, Mahabubnagar with 19 cases and Wanaparthy with 17 cases stood in the second and third positions, respectively.
With regard to malaria, there are a total number of 191 Malaria cases out of 23,19,283 samples tested in the state.
The bulletin said there were 42 T-Hub labs functioning with adequate testing and 53 blood banks functioning with adequate blood units. There was no dearth of medicines for any seasonal diseases in any health centre, it added.
