Dengue cases in UP cross 7,000 mark

LUCKNOW: Dengue cases have crossed 7,000 mark in Uttar Pradesh, which is more than the number of cases reported collectively in 2017 and 2018. Besides the state reported 10 dengue deaths (till November 11), as per the health department statistics. Among the districts, Lucknow has recorded 1358 dengue cases till now, the report said.

The state reported 3066 dengue cases in 2017 and 3829 cases in 2018. Till November 11, the state reported 7235 dengue cases which were more than the number (3355 cases) reported during the period in 2018. This year the number of deaths also high as compared to previous years. In 2017, 28 deaths were reported while in 2018 it was only four.

“Deaths have gone down as compared to previous years, but

number-wise dengue is alarming. Besides, this year very few cases of shock syndrome were reported,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president IMA, Lucknow.

“Authorities and people are equally responsible when it comes to vector borne diseases such as dengue. Authorities need to ensure regular fogging and take other precautionary steps while residents need to ensure that they do not allow mosquito breeding in their homes and surroundings,” said Dr Raman Kumar, president of the Academy of Family Physicians of India. The fact of more than one family members getting ill and patients even after being tested positive not isolated under a mosquito net, also indicated that awareness level was still poor, Dr Gupta said.

According to the health department study on Lucknow, of the total surveyed houses 74% respondents said that they were taking measures for preventing mosquito breeding in their homes. The survey also revealed poor functioning by the civil authorities as only 52% of the respondents across the state capital said that fogging was done in their areas.

THE DENGUE CASES REPORTED THIS YEAR WERE MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF CASES RECORDED COLLECTIVELY IN 2017 AND 2018