Dengue outbreak in India: The cases of Dengue, also known as breakbone fever, are increasing alarmingly in several parts of India. The viral disease, caused by mosquito bites, has led to deaths in many states of the country.
On Monday, the number of patients crossed 200. According to experts, the fluctuation in weather has led to a rise in dengue cases.
“Dengue is witnessing a spurt in the number of cases across India. Delhi, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Kolkata have seen a significant rise in cases and reported deaths as well related to dengue. Every year, there is a wave of dengue infection during monsoon season. However, this time there are more cases being reported. This year the number of dengue cases has broken the record of the last 6 years,” Dr Rajiva Gupta, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram told Financial Express.com.
Dr. Gupta explains that dengue cases always occur in the monsoon season whereas this year has been severe on account of a lot of rain followed by stagnation of water and the cyclical nature of the infection meaning alternate cycles of low and high numbers of dengue cases.
“The typical symptoms of dengue are fever, body aches, pain behind the eyes, chills, headache, etc. This year in my personal experience, I have noted respiratory symptoms too, like, irritation in the throat, cold cough etc. Although these symptoms are usually ascribed to flu, such patients when tested were found to be positive for dengue,” Dr. Gupta told Financial Express.com.
Preventive measures include personal protection by use of mosquito repellents and insecticide spray, reducing breeding sites like discarded tires and containers etc., he added.
Dengue outbreak in India | Here are the latest updates:
- Lucknow reported the highest single-day spike in dengue cases this year on Monday, and after 25 people tested positive, the city crossed the 300-mark. The total number of dengue cases stands at 301.
- In Kanpur, the number of dengue cases crossed 200.
- In Uttarakhand, 15 people have died due to dengue and the number of dengue cases increased to 1,130.
- In Delhi, doctors are witnessing an increase in cases of viral fever, and dengue.
- In Noida, one of the most lethal strains of dengue virus DEN2 has been detected in a test sample. On Tuesday, the strain was detected in a third of samples that were sent for a sero sample survey.
- In Ghaziabad, With eight new cases of dengue recorded on Monday, the tally of the mosquito-borne infection has risen to 422.
- Hyderabad has seen a 10-fold jump in dengue cases in the last month from 164 in July to 1,171 in August.
- As of September 8, a total of 4,979 dengue cases have been reported in Bengaluru. The city is also witnessing an acute shortage of platelets amid the spike in dengue cases.
