Sixteen cases of dengue have been reported from different parts of Patna district so far, a health official has said .
The number of cases has increased over the past one week and is likely to go up with rains due to accumulation of stagnant water. So far, 16 cases have been confirmed, said Patna civil surgeon Dr Pramod Jha.
Of the 16 cases reported in the district since August 3, four were from Kankarbagh, two each from Agamkuan and Barh and one each from Fathua, Machuatoli, Bhootnath, Daniyawan, Sandalpur, Bankipore, Kajipur and Ashok Rajpath, said Dr Jha.
The Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) has been getting around six dengue suspect cases every day, said its principal Dr Ajit Kumar Varma.
“The dengue season generally begins from September, but this year it has had an early onset,” said Dr Varma.
Given the trend of dengue over the last 2-3 years, district epidemiologist Dr Prashant Kumar feared that the incidence of the disease would peak between September and December.
“Patna reported nearly 1,000 cases last year between August and December. The coming months will be crucial and we are making every effort to contain the disease,” said Dr Kumar.
The civil surgeon has sent letters to all government and private health facilities to report any case of dengue coming to their centres. The blood samples have to be sent to any of the three government facilities — the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) or the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) — for confirmatory test.
“We have also advised all health facilities in the district to provide mosquito nets to dengue patients during the course of treatment,” said Dr Kumar.
The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been caught napping. Of the six fogging machines available, four were functional, admitted Patna mayor Sita Sahu.
“Two of the four small machines are not functional. New machines will be purchased within a month. Thereafter, we will speed up regular fogging, which is now being done at an interval of 15 days,” added Sahu.
Of the 1,518 dengue cases reported in the state last year, 984 were from Patna, said a report of the State Health Society, Bihar.
Dengue is caused by Aedes mosquitos, which breed in stagnant water. Experts attribute the rise in dengue cases to change in weather, rainfall and waterlogging.
As a precautionary measure, doctors advise people to wear full sleeves clothes to cover most part of the body and use mosquito repellents. The common symptoms of the disease are red mosquito bite marks on the body, high fever, severe abdominal pain, fatigue and blood from gums or during vomiting in severe cases.
