The district that is known for its black stone seems to become the dengue hotbed of the State for the past three months now. According to hospital records, there are at least five to eight confirmed as well as suspected dengue cases arriving here from Pakur to be treated at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Sadar Hospital on a daily basis.
The patients and the family claim that there is an outbreak of dengue in their hometown that has led to such a serious condition but the officials claim there is only 35 suspected cases of dengue and there is nothing much to worry about.
“This constant grip of dengue and malaria in Pakur are a result of extreme poverty, illiteracy and hunger. Mostly dengue cases have been reported from a small village of Sangrampur that has a total population of 6,000-7,000 but remains in extreme dirty condition. There is an urgent need of cleaning up the village and spreading awareness about the disease. We constantly try to educate these people to stop urinating in the ponds they wash clothes and bathe in but in vain. Poverty, hunger and extreme dirty drains, stagnant water and shabby houses have led to this situation here,” said Dr Praveen Ram, Civil Surgeon, Pakur.
Dr Ram further claimed that there is no sudden outbreak of dengue and malaria in Pakur and the situation is not out of control. “Though, I admit that the small villages and settlements on the outskirts live in unhygienic condition that keeps the residents sick almost all the year round but, there are 300 cases of dengue here, undoubtedly. We are creating and spreading awareness and trying to treat these patients at the earliest,” added Dr Ram.
However, patients rushing in to the Isolation Ward at the RIMS claim that the there is a sudden outbreak of dengue and malaria back in their home with about 300 cases. Mohammad Halim, a 25-year-old young unemployed man was admitted in the Isolation Ward of RIMS Wednesday evening after his White Blood Cell (WBC) count fell drastically from 1,25,000 to 30,000 now.
“I admitted my son Halim at Sadar Hospital in Pakur a week ago but his WBC count kept falling and soon he was becoming weak. Then, the doctors in Sadar Hospital referred him to RIMS here and Dr Vidyapati is taking care of him now. Even after a unit of blood transfusion, his WBC count seems to be falling and we are worried because the doctor on duty visits only once a day leaving us in the hands of these student nurses,” said Mohammad Sheikh, father of Md. Halim.
Moreover, several patients from Pakur who have been admitted at the RIMS’ dengue ward seemed quite convinced on a strange story as to how the disease spread.
A 29-year-old woman from Pakur who has been admitted in RIMS on Monday narrated the story of dengue outbreak in their village Sangrampur. “There’s a young man in our village who also works as a labour at a construction site in New Delhi. He had come down for his vacations in October in the village and was the first one to suffer from this disease. Soon after, all his family members started falling prey to the disease and then almost the entire village seemed to suffer from the same. There’s no family left in the village that has not been touched by dengue since then. This is a highly contagious disease and spreads through the same carrier mosquito. We are just unfortunate,” said Anjala Bibi, a dengue patient from Sangrampur, Pakur.
Former Speaker and legislative Assembly member Alamgir Alam, who represents Pakur said that the State Government has begun taking note of this crucial condition.
“The State has given us assurance that there will be proper actions taken to curb this disease at the earliest. The State is sending a special team consisting of health officials who will not only check the health but also spread awareness about such air and water-borne diseases. Cleanliness drive needs to be ensured in such villages and we are looking to achieve the same within a week’s time,” said Alam.