The incessant rains and flooding in parts of Uttarakhand has taken a toll on the health of state residents, who have been suffering with various mosquito-borne diseases. The worst case this year after Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand has already reached the mark of 4k dengue cases so far.
In fact, the number of dengue cases in the hill state has almost touched the 4,500 mark with a total of 4,398 cases being officially reported this year till now. Out of these, 2,923 dengue cases are from Dehradun alone. This indicates a potential threat for the city-dwellers, who are witnessing the highest number of dengue cases the city has seen in the past few years.
Dengue is a vector-borne disease caused by dengue virus, which in transferred to humans through the bite of infected Aedes Aegypti. With the ongoing rate, it is expected that the number might go slightly up in coming days. What has caused more alarm is the fact that the state has already six dengue deaths this year, the highest in four years.
According to a Times of India report, the data provided by the director general (health) shows that Dehradun and Nainital are the worst-affected districts this year. A total of 2768 cases have been reported from Dehradun till September 23, while 1189 cases have been officially recorded in Nainital. While health officials claim that there has been no cases reported from Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi, TOI had earlier reported that two cases were confirmed in Pithoragarh.
Dr Pankaj Singh, assistant director at Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (health and family welfare department), told TOI in a statement, “The number of dengue cases is high this year but there is no need to panic. The reason behind the spurt is good reporting of cases by the health department. Till last year, the state capital had just two centres for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, this year we have five. Even private hospitals have started ELISA.”
He also added that climate change is driving dengue cases in the hilly areas. This is because the temperature is becoming increasingly warm and humid, facilitating breeding of aedes mosquitoes.
Several primary schools in Dehradun’s Raipur area were asked to remain shut as the health department found larva breeding on the campus. This is concerning as over 70% of dengue cases in Dehradun have been reported from Raipur.
While Uttarakhand reported 204 dengue cases in 2016 along with 4 deaths, it changed to 848 cases in 2017. In 2018, the figures dipped to 591 along with two deaths.