With plummeting of temperatures, the District Medical and Health Services are feeling some relief on the dengue front.
The department has not reported any new dengue patient ffor last ten days and with this the department is sure that two cases reported on November 28 from Chukhuwala locality of the city would be the last for the year.
Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) of Dehradun Dr BS Jangpangi told The Pioneer that the department had reported 121 cases of dengue this year which was one less than 122 cases reported last year. He said the department had engaged in extensive awareness campaign this year and apprised people about the preventive measures to be taken against the disease.
The department also organised a number of health camps in the affected areas. Dr Jangpangi said his department was on pro active mode against dengue and due to which the spread of the disease was effectively checked. The District Vector Borne diseases officer JP Bahuguna said this year most of the cases were reported from Bhagat Singh Colony and Sanjay Colony areas.
The department has reported 37 cases from the Bhagat Singh Colony this year which reflected that the disease assumed endemic proportions in this locality. This year one 12 year old girl succumbed to the disease at CMI hospital. The girl was declared positive for dengue after the rapid test but the Health Department did not acknowledge that the girl died due to dengue as Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ElISA) test was not performed on her.
The dengue attained the epidemic proportions in the year 2010 when the department reported more than 2,900 cases, however, most the cases that year were declared positive on the basis of rapid test only without the mandatory ElIZA test.
Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito due to the characteristic strips over its body.
The presence of this virus is detected by conducting the Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ElISA) test which is the confirmatory test for the disease. The symptoms of the disease are 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.