BHUBANESWAR: Dengue claimed two more lives on Saturday while more cases poured in from 11 districts leaving the Health Department in a tizzy. The killer fever has steadily been spreading to more areas and so far has gripped 21 districts. Health experts say in no other State, the spread of dengue has been so wide. The two deaths reported on Saturday came in from two private hospitals of the City. Anjali Sahu (34) died at Bibekananda Hospital while 40-year-old Pradip Sahu’s death was reported from Ayush Hospital. The deceased belonged to Angul, epicentre of the disease. With the new deaths, the toll has climbed to 19. On Saturday, 201 samples were sent for test at SCB Medical, Cuttack, and Capital Hospital here. Of them, 80 samples, all from SCB, tested positive. State Disease Surveillance Cell sources said of the 80 positive cases, Angul district reported 33 followed by 12 in Dhenkanal, 11 in Jajpur and 10 in Cuttack district. Cuttack has been reporting increasing number of dengue cases of late. Out of 1,163 samples tested so far, 482 dengue positive cases have been detected. Angul district with 244 positive cases has been the worst-hit, while Jajpur with 54, Cuttack with 52 and Dhenkanal with 51 cases follow. Health Department sources said the spread in MCL area of Talcher could be attributed to high transmission rate since this happens to be the breeding season for the vectors. The rising incidence is expected to continue in September too. Concentration of dengue in Angul must have been going on for the last couple of years since movement of the carriers is high in Talcher but it largely went unnoticed because of low transmission rate. The conducive conditions this year have triggered the epidemic-like situation. The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) has drawn samples from the region to carry out serotype of the virus. “We have got a pool of samples from the affected region so that we can isolate the virus,” RMRC Director Dr SK Kar said. Last year, RMRC had found existence of serotype 2 of the dengue virus in Malkangiri. Its tests are expected to help the Health Department draw up a strategy for the region since emergence of a new serotype could be cause of concern for the health authorities.
Comments
0 comment