The number of dengue cases in the State Capital has already reached a figure which is one and half times more than total reported cases of disease last year. To add to the problems of denizens of Dehradun, the dreaded disease is showing no signs of respite. The district health department had reported 829 cases of dengue last year but the figure this year has already jumped to 1117. The health experts are expecting a further surge in the number of dengue cases in the city as numbers of patients affected by the disease are still pouring in from different parts of the city.
Interestingly, the dengue season in the State capital usually starts in the month of August but this year it started earlier when the disease broke out in Patharibagh area in the month of July itself. In a short span of time 150 cases of the disease were reported from this small area. Experts believe that with minimum temperature still hovering around 20 degrees the virus of dengue is still in comfortable temperature range to thrive and infect more persons.
The head of Department of Zoology at DAV PG College here RK Johri said the virus of dengue becomes inactive when the minimum temperature falls below 15 degree centigrade and the maximum temperature also gets a dip. The experts believe that such weather condition can take at least 15 to 20 more days to set in and therefore the chances of more people being affected by it are real.
Dengue has symptoms of persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decrease drastically which may prove fatal for the patient. The disease is spread by Aedes Aezypti or tiger mosquito (called due to the characteristic stripes on its body). It strikes during day time and experts suggest that people should wear full sleeved clothes to prevent mosquito bite.