5,141 suspected & 593 confirmed dengue cases in PMC this year

The city has seen a surge in dengue cases this year with doctors reporting a rise in symptoms such as abdominal pain and loss of appetite. A total 593 dengue cases have been reported within city limits this year of which 46 have been reported in November alone, according to health department officials. At 66, the Hadapsar-Mundhwa ward has reported the maximum dengue cases in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) confirmed. Following the Hadapsar-Mundhwa ward, the Aundh-Baner ward in the PMC has reported the second highest confirmed cases of dengue (60) in the city. Whereas Nagar road-Wadgaonsheri, Yerawada-Kalas-Dhanori, and Kasaba-Vishrambaugh wards have reported more than 50 cases of dengue this year. In October, most cases of dengue were reported due to continued rainfall, according to PMC officials. The number of dengue cases is likely to decrease hereon.

Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman, Pune Hospital Board of India, said, “Loss of appetite, abdominal pain and vomiting are all serious symptoms and patients should quickly consult a doctor. Many a time, people take symptoms lightly and do not consult a doctor, which makes things difficult for them. Taking rest and maintaining the water level in the body should be the dengue patients’ priority.”

Dr Vijay M Natarajan, CEO, Symbiosis university hospital & research centre, said, “Gastro is an atypical symptom of dengue and not the typical one. It is important to keep track of variants. Dengue has two variants of antigen and one needs to be very careful because if you get dengue infection once with one antigen and the second time with the other antigen, it can be very dangerous and we call it dengue haemorrhagic fever and one can lose one’s life as this has a very high mortality rate. So, one should not take dengue lightly. There is no treatment for dengue and you can only prevent it. One needs to be very careful and do the NS1 test and then the platelet count can be monitored.”

Another private doctor from city, Dr Rajesh Deshmukh, said that some symptoms of dengue have remained the same. “However, many patients continue to get fever and fatigue repeatedly even when the infection has reduced and the platelet count is better. Therefore, more and more hydration and rest is needed for patients,” he said.

Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said that more children are reporting dengue infections now. “The symptoms remain the same for them. However, special care should be taken of these children as they have low immunity,” said Dr Awate.

Of the 593 confirmed cases, 148 confirmed cases of dengue were reported in the city in October alone, the health department said. Till November 5, a total 3,314 notices were issued by the PMC to housing societies and commercial complexes where mosquito breeding spots were found.

Speaking about the cases, Dr Sanjeev Wavare, assistant health chief, PMC, said that the number of cases is likely to decrease now. “There were 5,141 suspected cases of dengue in the city. Of which, 593 were confirmed. However this year, no death was reported. Mosquitoes breed during the rainy season, increasing the spread of the disease. However this year as the rainfall continued in October, a maximum number of cases were reported that month,” said Dr Wavare.