DEHRADUN: In some alarming news, 22 people from a single residential area - Pathribagh - in the city have tested positive for dengue. Pathribagh in Patel Nagar had recorded the season's first dengue death on July 6 and registered another dengue case after a 32-year-old man tested positive for the virus. The patient is currently admitted to a Shashtrinagar-based clinic.
After the two cases emerged, the health department swung into action and collected blood samples of 39 residents on Friday. Out of the 39 samples, 22 have been found positive for dengue.
Talking to TOI, CMO (Dehradun) Dr Y S Thapliyal, said, "Entire district will be fumigated immediately and a list of high-risk zones will be shared with the municipal corporation on Monday so that the necessary sanitising and sensitising activity can take place. The health team has fumigated Patel Nagar area to keep people from panicking."
The health department on Sunday collected 50 more blood samples from Pathribagh on Sunday. Out of these, 22 samples have tested positive in RAPID tests. The samples have been sent for Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) tests.
Doctors say if the ELISA test comes positive, dengue is confirmed, but result of RAPID is not taken as confirmed because sometimes, it can also be an indication of typhoid or some other viral infection. The department will now conduct ELISA test on all the 22 RAPID positive cases.
The health department has raised an alert in the plain districts of Uttarakhand, especially Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun. Dengue cases tend to peak in August end, September and October but this year the virus has gripped the city early.
"Dengue mosquito breeds in fresh water and the situation worsens post-monsoon. We recommend that people clean all sites where water is collected and wear full-sleeved clothes. Plain districts are susceptible due to poor roads with potholes that have stagnant water," said Dr Kusum Nariyal, director general of health and family welfare department.
Doon Medical College has increased the capacity of its dengue ward from ten to twenty beds to fight the menace.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms of dengue, which include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash, typically begin three to fourteen days after infection.
In 2015, 1455 dengue cases were registered in state. Most cases were from Vasant Vihar, Nehru colony, Kalidas Marg, Rispana Nagar, Doiwala, Raiwala and Rishikesh. In 2015, Dehradun reported 849 dengue cases and the outbreak was in Bhagat Singh Colony, Sanjay Colony, Puran Basti, Brahamanwala and Mehuwala.
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