The district health department and the civic authorities appear unperturbed with the rising number of Dengue cases in the state capital. The departmental data points that number of Dengue cases in Dehradun has reached to 154, which is much higher than the total 121 cases reported last year. The figure is bound to increase as normally the cases of Dengue are reported till mid of November.
Instead of taking proactive approach the department officials are taking refuge in the fact that this year almost 80 percent cases are those who have traveled from outside or the residents of the city who have got the infection from outside. The experts however believe that the district health authorities are in fool’s paradise if they are not active on preventing the spread of disease. “The patients and all the suspected cases of the disease should be kept in isolation as the virus from them can be transported to healthy people at an explosive pace,” said one of an expert.
When asked to comment on higher number of cases this year till date than total cases last year, the district Vector Borne Diseases Officer, J P Bahuguna said that last year most of the cases were reported in selected pockets like Bhagat Singh Colony and Sanjay Colony but this year we are witnessing that most of the cases are from outside the district. He accepted that the dengue cases in the district can increase. Bahuguna said that the Aedes Aezypti (vector of dengue) remains active till mid of November. The dengue cases subside normally when the temperature drops below 18 degrees or shoots above 40 degrees. It means that at dengue threat on the residents of city would be there for at least two more months.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun Dr S P Agarwal claimed that the department is on active mode on the disease. However his claim is not supported by the activities of the department on the ground. Manish Kumar a resident of D l Road said that the department is yet to undertake fogging in the locality. He pointed out that the department was more active last year. The health department officials privately admit that more proactive approach is needed on the dengue front. They however point fingers towards the Municipal Corporation for failing to launch a sanitation drive in the city due to which mosquitoes and other disease transmitting insects are increasing.