The increasing number of people affected by dengue and its presence in almost all localities of the State capital has exposed the health department’s claim of maximum alert on the disease.
The first dengue patient of the season in Dehradun was reported on July 13 but the number rose so rapidly that now it is about to touch five hundred figure mark within one and a half months only.
The departmental data reveals that 497 people in Dehradun have been found positive for the disease so far. The health experts are also intrigued by rapid increase in number of dengue cases in such a short span of time.
The health department officials confirmed that they have never witnessed such a rapid increase in number of cases with the onset of monsoon in Dehradun in past.
In the initial phase the disease outbreak was reported in Patharibagh area where the dengue cases were reported from almost households.
The visits of Chief Minister and the Health Minister ensured that the district health department became overzealous in Patharibagh area as it concentrated all its activities there. The department’s neglect of other localities proved costly as the disease gradually spread to other areas of the State capital.
The incidences of the diseases are now being reported from the traditional hotspots like Dl road, Shimla Bypass, Deep Nagar and Bhagat Singh colony. The areas like Race Course, Rajpur road and racecourse have emerged new areas where the disease is being reported in good numbers now.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun, Dr YS Thapliyal said that the department is on active mode on dengue. He accepted that the disease is being reported from large number of areas this season but claimed that the only one or two patients are reported from these areas which mean that the infection is in control. Dr Thapliyal said that the hospitals of the district have adequate quantity of platelets.
Meanwhile, a report of State health department has put the total number of dengue cases in State at 517 on Monday. The Assistant Director Communicable diseases, Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh said that samples of 7,236 persons have been collected in the State for ElISA test.
Apart from Dehradun, Nainital is the only other district where the dengue cases are being reported. The State health department has found 20 cases of the disease in this district so far.