‘477 people test positive for fatal disease'
Arvind Sharma, Jammu Tawi, Oct 25: Amid Covid-19 scare, dengue fever has now spread its tentacles in Jammu region with a total of four hundred and seventy seven (477) people testing positive for this fatal vector borne disease till date i.e. Monday October 25.
“There were four hundred and sixty one (461) positive cases of dengue till yesterday, while today sixteen more people tested positive for this disease, including 15 from Jammu district, while one person from Rajouri also tested positive for dengue,” revealed the official figures accessed by the Northlines.
So far, two deaths have been reported due to dengue in Jammu region.
A total of 61 people were subjected to testing today in Jammu region out of which 16 tested positive for dengue, sources said.
However, sources said that the number of dengue infected patients in Jammu is far higher than the one reflected in the official figures.
The official figures reflect only the number of patients admitted in the hospital or those who underwent testing in government health centres or laboratories.
There is no record or data of the people who got themselves tested in the private laboratories or clinics and tested positive for the fatal dengue disease, they said.
“We have been keeping a close watch on the situation and also woking in close coordination with the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) so that all preventive measures are taken well in time to prevent the situation from becoming worse,” State Malaria Officer, Dr Belu Sharma told the Northlines.
“We have also directed all the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of Jammu region to keep a close watch in their respective areas,” Dr Belu said.
“The National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme has been issuing guidelines regarding steps and other measures to be taken to prevent the spread of dengue time to time,” she said adding, “we have been following those guidelines”.
The main task of the JMC is to carry out fogging of chemicals in the areas falling within its jurisdiction to kill the mosquito responsible for transmitting dengue.
The fogging is to be carried out on priority basis in the areas reporting maximum number of dengue cases, Dr Belu Sharma said.
“The JMC, however, has not been able to cover all the 75 wards of Jammu as mandatory under the guidelines,” sources said.
“We have covered the wards once but as per the situation, the wards are yet to be covered again under the fogging drive,” chairman, Public Health and Sanitation Committee, JMC, Narinder Singh Jamwal told the Northlines.
Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector that transmits the virus that causes dengue. The virus is passed to human beings through the bites of an infective female Aedes mosquito, which mainly acquires the virus while feeding on the blood of an infected person.
The mosquito that transmits the dengue virus to human beings survives on clean water. The period for spread of dengue lasts till mid of November and after that it starts to subside.
Sources said that one ward each at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) and SMGS Hospital has been solely been reserved for the dengue patients. At SMGS, the ward has been reserved for children.
A woman from Udhampur and an ATM guard of Sunderbani, Rajouri have died due to dengue. Experts said that dengue hits every 2 to 3 years.
