Sept. sees rise in dengue cases

More than 300 cases of dengue have been reported in Hyderabad district in September alone and more than 1,000 cases in the state, with government and private hospitals seeing a major pool of people with the disease.

Government hospitals are full to their capacity, with Fever Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and Osmania General Hospital and area hospital each having more than 20 cases.

A senior doctor at Fever Hospital said that dengue cases are being seen on a daily basis. “We are diagnosing mild dengue cases in the out-patient department level and asking them to take medicines and proper fluids so that there are no complications. Those cases where the fever has not subsided despite medication are being admitted for further treatment.”

“There are a lot of firsttime cases this year which is an indication that the mosquito is active and is also spreading the virus around. This kind of rapid movement of the aedes aegypti mosquito means that there are sufficient breeding places, which leads to the spread of the disease,” said a senior health official in the district medical and health department.

Research by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education Research has found that higher temperatures allow the virus to spread faster from the mosquito to the human host, while lower temperatures of 17 to 18 degrees Celsius slows the virus transmission. The study has also found that when temperature fluctuates from low to high, the transmission rate is three times higher.

A senior health official in the district medical and health department explained, “The month of September saw the temperature go up to 30 degrees Celsius. This was a very conducive climate (for mosquito breeding) taken together with fresh water stagnation.”

According to health officials, September has seen the most number of dengue cases this year; from July to August only 20 dengue cases were reported.