The rapid increase of dengue in the state capital has created a scare among the residents with the state health department confirming 603 cases in the district this season.
The dengue season in Dehradun started a bit early this year with the department reporting first case of the disease on July 13. Thereafter, Patharibagh area of the city came under infestation of the virus as more than 180 cases were reported from this small area in less than three weeks. The disease later spread to other areas and now the cases of the disease are being reported from all parts of the city. The spread of disease in almost all localities of the state capital has created scare among the residents and frightened people are flocking the pathology labs for dengue tests. One of a health department official said that the people from the areas where only one case is reported are putting pressure on the department to start a health camp in their locality. “People are asking us to recommend dengue test even when we are convinced that the symptoms are not of the disease. Yes, the people are frightened,’’ said one of a doctors.
“I keep an eye on the newspaper reports on Dengue and the increase in number of patients affected is really scary. I have started using mosquito nets and make sure my kids apply mosquito repellent creams whenever they venture out,’’ said Sarita Rawat, a resident of Defence colony.
The in charge of Integrated Disease Ssurveillance Pprogramme (IDSP), Dr S S Kandari told The Pioneer that people should not get frightened by dengue. He said that though the cases of the disease are being reported from large number of localities, only one or two cases are coming up which is not a very troubling preposition. “Occurrence of one or two people in one area could be due to the travel history. These people could have got the infection from travelling to other areas,’’ he explained. The health department officials claim that one or two cases in a locality shows that the virus is not active in the area but they accept that these sporadic cases could trigger another Patharibagh type infestation if not checked.
The symptoms of Dengue 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. The tiger mosquito (called due to the characteristic stripes on its body) is responsible for transmitting the virus. This mosquito strikes during day time and it is suggested that people should wear full sleeved clothes to prevent mosquito bite.