Dengue Outbreak: 11 more test positive, J&K sees 117 cases

In the past two days, almost a dozen patients have been tested positive for dengue in Jammu and Kashmir. A health department official on Sunday said that 117 people have been affected by this vector-borne disease this year. The majority of the patients have already recovered fully, while the condition of the rest of the people is Stable. A total of 848 blood samples were taken for screening since January this year, out of which 117 were found positive for dengue from January 1 till September 28 evening, he said.

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Jammu district accounted for the highest number

The patients received the reports on Friday and Jammu district accounted for the highest number of 36 dengue cases, followed by 29 in Samba, 21 in Rajouri, 14 in Kathua, five in Udhampur, two each in Poonch and Ramban and one each in Reasi, Kishtwar, and Kashmir valley, the official said. Adding to his statements, the health official said that out of 21 cases in Rajouri, nine have got infected outside the State. However, he assured that measures have been taken to keep the situation under control and there is no need to panic. The main reason for the sudden outbreak of dengue post-monsoon season is stagnant water. He further advised people not to allow water stagnation in and around their residential and workplaces.

"None of the patients who are still undergoing treatment at various health centers and hospitals are serious. All the patients are stable and have shown a positive response to the treatment," the official said

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Dengue outbreak

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection that occurs mainly in the monsoon season. Uttarakhand has been affected by it majorly this year. Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) has started its fogging drive in an attempt to eliminate dengue from Dehradun. About 75 dengue cases had also been registered in Delhi in 2019 so far, out of which at least 35 were reported in August alone. Telangana BJP State president Dr. K Laxman had also expressed distress over the sudden outbreak of dengue and malaria. The instances of dengue have increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 countries, putting almost half of the world’s population in danger.

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(With inputs from PTI)