Patna emerges as hotspot despite containment drives; cases will go down only after temperature dips further, say experts
Photo: iStock Nearly two weeks after the retreat of the southwest monsoon, dengue continues to haunt Bihar’s residents amid the festive season, with 125 fresh cases recorded on October 25, 2023, according to the state health department data.
The latest addition pushed the total count to 13,604, with 50 fatalities, according to official records.
The surge of dengue cases in the third week of October despite a temperature dip at night as well as during the day in the eastern state compared to earlier this month has worried health experts.
In Patna alone, 225 fresh cases were reported on October 23, 24 and 25, including 60 on October 23, 155 on October 24 and 10 on October 25, health department data showed.
This is even as testing slowed down since October 23 amid Durga Puja. ”Dengue tests were reduced due to festival holidays but it has picked up from October 25,” a health official Subhash Chandra Prasad said.
On average, the number of daily reported dengue cases was 215 in September 2023, which rose to 286 in October 2023, according to the health department official data.
From October 1-24, about 6,869 dengue cases were reported. This is nearly 50 per cent of dengue cases reported this year in Bihar. The cases are likely to rise in the last few days of the month.
Patna, followed by Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Siwan districts are hotspots for dengue this year, health officials noted. While Patna reported more than 5,500 cases in September and October, more than 1,000 dengue cases have been reported from Bhagalpur.
Of the 50 dengue deaths reported from the state so far, 11 were from Patna, six from Bhagalpur, three each from Muzaffarpur, Begusarai and Samastipur and the rest from 12 other districts.
Currently, 241 dengue patients are undergoing treatment in 12 government-run medical colleges and hospitals in the state. In Bhagalpur alone, 74 dengue patients are under treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital — the highest for any hospital.
The state has been witnessing a surge in dengue cases till the end of October since last year, said Ashok Kumar, additional director and state programme officer of vector borne disease control, to Down To Earth.
“We hope the count will come down by the end of October this time. Some cases may be reported in the first week of November. But dengue will subside only after temperature drops,” he added.
It is widely accepted that vector borne diseases like dengue usually spread during monsoon, Kumar noted. “But it is a matter of study as to why more dengue cases are reported in October, particularly after the withdrawal of monsoon.”
Last year also nearly 13,000 dengue cases were reported in the state by the end of October and 32 deaths reported, Kumar said.
Bihar health secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said the department is alert about providing proper treatment to those found suffering from dengue fever. All government-run health centres, including medical colleges, district hospitals, sub divisional hospitals and primary health centres, have separate wards for proper treatment of dengue patients, the official added.
Patna has emerged as the worst dengue hotspot recording the most cases despite officials Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) claiming to have intensified their campaign to contain the disease.
The authority claimed to have launched a rigorous cleanliness drive, as well as the widespread application of DDT powder, chemical fogging and anti-larvae chemicals.
But residents of several neighbourhoods in the city pointed out that chemical fogging by vehicles has proven to be inadequate, and the sporadic use of DDT powder and anti-larvae chemicals seem to be only on paper.
Waterlogging is a common problem in Patna and Bihar’s other urban areas, heightening the risk of vector breeding and disease proliferation.
In these localities, thousands of poor people residing in slums and makeshift huts along the roadside are at the highest risk of getting infected due to the unsanitary conditions, accumulation of garbage and waterlogging near their dwellings.
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