After flood, dengue spreads in Patna; 80 cases in 3 days

At least 80 people have tested positive for dengue in Patna since Tuesday while fresh cases of chikungunya have also been reported in Bihar’s capital, health officials said on Thursday.

The cases have been reported even as the state health department on Wednesday said that there has been no spike in the number of dengue cases in the aftermath of floods in parts of Bihar.

The officials cited above said that Patna has reported the maximum cases of dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes a severe flu-like illness, after Bhagalpur. They added that 823 patients tested positive for dengue since the last week of September until Tuesday in Patna alone.

The officials said that on Thursday the number increased to 903. Till Tuesday, 76 cases of chikungunya, a viral disease that infected mosquitoes transmit to humans, were also reported while on Thursday the number went up to 90, they added.

Doctors at Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) said that the next 10 days would be crucial as they struggle to deal with the outbreak of the disease. Mostly, people from flood-hit districts have been referred to the PMCH with complaints of fever and nausea.

PMCH superintendent Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said that 127 dengue cases have been reported at the hospital from September 26 until Thursday. “At least 40-45 patients report daily to the hospital, of which 30-35 test positive. Right now, 18 dengue patients are admitted to the hospital,” he said.

He added that the situation is under control and not alarming. “This year, the trend of dengue is different as there is no steep fall in blood platelet count in the patients,” said Prasad.

He said that at least 8-10 patients suffering from diarrhoea are being referred to the hospital daily and most of them are from places that remain waterlogged.

Health department officials said that they are making “all-out efforts” to check the outbreak and have been organising free testing camps besides arranging for fogging in the affected areas.

A health department official said that on Thursday 10 teams were spraying synthetic parathyroid in Patna’s three affected localities--Rajendra Nagar, Kankarbagh and Patliputra colony. “All the medical colleges of the state have the testing kits for dengue and chikungunya in sufficient quantity...,” he said

The department would also hold free camps to test dengue and chikungunya cases at PMCH and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital from October 10 to 12.