Dengue Outbreak in India

The deadly dengue looms large over India this year with more than 550 cases reported in the capital city, more than 370 confirmed cases in Odissa and around 550 cases in Kolkata. The whole nation is reeling under dengue threat with almost every state reporting a rise in the number of dengue cases and even deaths.

This year’s first dengue death of a 35-year old man was reported at Chhindwara town of Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh. The man died on 6 October, Saturday while undergoing treatment for dengue.

[Read: Homeopathic Treatment for Dengue]

The Delhi-NCR is also witnessing a spurt in dengue cases with 147 cases of dengue reported in Gurgaon in the last month and around 250 cases reported in Noida in the last two months. The Times of India reported a four-fold increase in the incidence of dengue cases in South India this year.

According to a recent report, Delhi has witnessed the highest number of dengue patients this year with 33 fresh cases reported alone on last Thursday. Out of 551 cases reported in the capital city until Thursday, 207 were reported from the area of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). The health department of Delhi has asked both the government-run and private hospitals to check on the availability of platelets and vacant beds to handle the critical patients, said state Health Minister A K Walia.

[Read: How to Prevent Dengue Fever]

Last year, the national capital had witnessed 208 cases of dengue and in 2010, the figure of dengue cases skyrocketed to 4, 084. In 2009, the numbers of cases were significantly less with 29 patients and no death.

Also, the cases of dengue have boomed in Maharashtra with 762 persons tested positive for it and 18 dengue deaths until now.  The most affected city in Maharashtra is Mumbai with 504 patients.

With an alarming situation all over India, the municipal corporations of various cities are asked to routinely fumigate all the locations to control the dengue outbreak.

In a special feature called ‘Dengue outbreaks in India: will history keep on repeating itself?’, Gautam Ahluwalia from the Department of Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital Ludhiana has said that in developing countries like India, unplanned urbanisation and increased migration of rural population to urban areas with lack of knowledge on proper sanitation facilities and the preventive measures of dengue lead to the massive dengue outbreak in India every year, which takes several lives all over the nation.

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