Six more patients were detected to have dengue fever at the SCB Medical College Hospital here on Friday, thereby taking the total number of dengue cases in the hospital to 26. While 25 patients are now in the dengue ward, one serious patient is admitted in the medicine ICU, sources said.
Out of 25 suspected blood samples tested at the microbiology department of the hospital during past 24 hours, six samples were found to have the dreaded virus. Five of these dengue patients are from Cuttack district, four from city itself, and the lone other patient is from nearby Jajpur district.
Till date, the microbiology department of the hospital has tested 333 blood samples and 61 of them are positive cases of dengue, the source added.
Meanwhile, the sanitised dengue ward is finding it extremely difficult to meet the rush of patients. Although the designated ward has 30 beds, it has become difficult to monitor the cases as the ward is not provided dedicated doctors and paramedics to man it smoothly, said the attendants of the patients.
The Cuttack Municipal Corporation has taken up massive sanitation and bush cutting activities in the affected and vulnerable areas of Rausapatna, Nima Saahi and Haripur as all the patients from the city belong to these areas. One dengue patient from the Rausapatna area had died last week allegedly due to lack of proper treatment.