Patna DM down with dengue; CM holds meeting as cases rise

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday directed the health department to be on alert and provision for all investigations at hospitals to help contain the spread of dengue, as the number of cases in the state rose to 295, with Bhagalpur reporting the maximum number of cases (105), followed by Patna at 102, said officials.

Patna district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh and his wife were among the 102 affected by the mosquito-borne viral infection. Both Singh and his wife were admitted to the Paras Hospital on August 31 with dengue fever, weakness and body pain. Singh’s wife was discharged on Monday.

Singh, whose platelet count fell to 13,000 initially, had recovered to 1.2 lakh on Monday, and was expected to be discharged on Tuesday, said hospitals sources.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister visited Singh at the hospital, after which he convened a high level meeting with officials of the health and the urban development departments.

Kumar instructed officials to ensure that blood centres have sufficient stock of platelets. He also advised the officials to ensure regular anti-dengue fogging and maintain cleanliness in all areas of the affected districts.

The CM also advised that hospitals keep adequate number of beds available for dengue patients. The health department has already advised medical college hospitals to earmark 20 beds, district hospitals 10 beds and sub-divisional hospitals five beds each for dengue patients.

State programme officer (SPO) for National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Dr Ashok Kumar advised people not to allow accumulation of water either at roof tops, terrace or on ground floor of their residence; in earthen pots, old tyres and other sources of water bodies as they facilitate breeding of mosquitoes. He also advised people to change water in their coolers every day, as the period from laying of egg to an adult mosquito was as short as four days.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The symptoms of the disease generally manifests after 5-6 days of being bitten by an infective mosquito.