Sting of dengue at a feverish high in Bangalore

As many as 163 people in the BBMP limits have contracted dengue so far this year, with doctors conceding that the number of people complaining of fever has increased when compared with last year.

Sources in the health department said that with monsoon setting in and the garbage problem yet to be solved, there is possibility that many places in the city have become mosquitoes’ breeding ground.

A doctor working at KC General Hospital said the number of people who are coming for treatment of fever is considerably more than it was this season past year. Sources said that on an average, the hospital gets four patients suffering from fever every day. The sources said the hospital has attended to about 400 cases of dengue since January.

Allegedly, the daily status report on dengue is not being updated in the state. For example, three people died of dengue at KR Pet, Byadgi and Gadag on Sunday but the daily report on the disease did not mention these death cases. There are rumours that a boy and a man died of dengue recently at Lady Curzon and Bowring Hospital.

The health department has done little to address the concerns surrounding the rumours that dengue killed these three.
Notwithstanding the exclusion of these three death cases from the daily dengue report, a health department official asserted they were incorporating the information provided by the BBMP regarding the mosquito-borne disease.

Dr K Sangamithra, nodal officer, mosquito control, BBMP, said all private hospitals have been advised to send the data on dengue cases to the BBMP. She said the hospitals have been asked to send blood samples to the National Institute of Virology for testing.

She said that till now, nobody in Bangalore has died of dengue. She said the BBMP staff inspected 1.6 lakh houses and identified about 2,000 where mosquitoes were breeding.
Dr Nagaraj, chief health officer, BBMP, said about 140 suspected cases of dengue were reported in the city since January. He said Bangaloreans need not worry about dengue as the Palike has been taking measures to prevent the spread of the disease.