PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
As apprehended earlier, the dengue cases have been spiking with the rains gaining intensity in Uttarakhand. On Saturday, Dehradun district recorded six new cases. The chief medical officer, Dehradun, Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma confirmed that these six individuals have tested positive for dengue. Two of the patients have been admitted to Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, three to Himalayan Hospital and one to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh for treatment. This raises the cumulative number of confirmed dengue cases in the district to 127 which includes 69 cases from Dehradun and 58 from other districts or states.
Dr Sharma also said that there are currently 21 active dengue cases in the district. Treatment is being provided to nine patients at Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, five at Himalayan Hospital, three at AIIMS Rishikesh, three at Graphic Era Hospital and one at Government Doon Medical College (GDMC).
On Saturday, a total of 144 dengue samples were collected, bringing the cumulative number of analysed samples to 7,687. On the same day, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and health department volunteers conducted 12,284 home surveys to search for mosquito larvae. Out of these inspections, 98 homes tested positive for the presence of larvae. To date, the health department has completed 8,14,064 home surveys, with 2,824 yielding positive results. Additionally, on Saturday, ASHA workers and volunteers inspected 92,826 containers, finding larvae in 118 of them. Overall, they have surveyed 5,222,666 containers, with 3,468 of those testing positive for larvae.
The experts are advising people to wear full sleeved clothes to prevent the mosquito bite. They point out that since the Aedes mosquitoes – the vector of dengue- are capable of laying their eggs in one spoonful of water, the pots, vases, water bottles and coolers should be decanted.
Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito. The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints.
