The virus of dengue in State Capital appears to be defying the long held belief that downward trend of temperature brings down the incidences of the disease. The experts and the health department officials are intrigued by the behavior of the dengue virus. It is a general belief among the experts that the dengue virus becomes less active with the onset of winters and becomes dormant when the temperature plunges below 20 degrees centigrade. However the incidences of the disease are still pouring in from different parts of the city putting question mark over the wisdom and belief of the experts.
In one of the worst epidemic of dengue in recent years the number of people affected by the diseased has mounted to 1277 in Dehradun district. An analysis of the data released by the district health department reveals that 07 cases of the disease were reported on Wednesday while 10 and 23 cases were reported on Tuesday and Monday respectively. The minimum temperature during this time has taken a continuous downward trend with weather department recording a minimum temperature of 13.8 degree centigrade on Tuesday. However the maximum temperature is still hovering around 30 degrees.
When contacted the Head of Department (HOD) of Zoology at DAV PG College here, Dr R K Johri said that the behavior of the virus is intriguing. He said that somewhat higher rainfall this year has resulted in higher wetness in the environment which is good for mosquitoes, the vector of the disease to thrive. Johri informed that the mosquitoes are temperature bound and rainfall dependent. He said that it is possible that the mosquitoes have developed some sort of resistance to the temperature changes and research is needed on the subject.
The in- charge of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Dr S S Kandari told The Pioneer that normally the incidences of dengue virus thrives in a temperature range of 16- 30 degrees and with temperature falling below this range the number of cases of the disease would become progressively decreased in the days to come.
The district vector borne diseases officer, J P Bahuguna claimed that the dengue is on wane in the capital city as less number of cases are being found positive than last month. He added that the percentage of the samples found positive for the disease per number of tests done has decreased. The department is claiming that more number of samples was tested this year due to which the number of positive cases appears on higher side.
Meanwhile seven new cases of the disease were reported by the health department on Wednesday. These cases were reported from Rajiv Nagar, Race course, Indira Colony, Sewala Kala and Rishikesh.