Kotdwar town in Pauri district worst affected
Tuesday, 19 SEPTEMBER 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
After wreaking havoc in the Dehradun district, the cases of the vector-borne disease dengue are rising in the mountainous districts of the State. The cases of the disease are rapidly increasing in the Pauri district with Kotdwar town being the worst affected. Nainital district is also witnessing a spurt in the cases of dengue recently. On Monday the Health department reported 75 new cases of the disease in the State out of which 34 cases were reported from Pauri district alone. The department reported 15 cases of dengue each from Dehradun and Nainital districts on Monday. The authorities reported eight cases of the disease from Champawat and three from Udham Singh Nagar district on the day. The cumulative number of dengue cases in the is now 1,663 with Dehradun district leading the table with 794 cases followed by 310 in Haridwar, 262 in Nainital and 188 in Pauri district. A total of 1,342 patients have recovered from the disease so far and the State now has 307 active cases of the disease. The department has so far reported the death of 14 patients from dengue. A total of 13 deaths have occurred in Dehradun district alone. Deaths of three patients each have occurred in Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital and Mahant Indiresh hospital while two patients each have died in Synergy hospital and Himalayan hospital Jolly Grant.
The spread of dengue in the mountainous districts of the State has stirred the Health department. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation in Kotdwar town of Pauri district, the Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar recently inspected the base hospital in Kotdwar where he found many discrepancies and laxity in the treatment of patients. Apart from taking action on two senior medical officers, the secretary issued a show case notice to chief medical officer of Pauri.
The experts are advising people to wear full sleeved clothes to prevent mosquito bites. They point out that since the aedes mosquitoes – the vector of dengue- are capable of laying their eggs in one spoonful of water, the pots, vases, water bottles and coolers should be decanted. The Health department claims that anti-dengue activities and source reduction drives are on in full swing in the affected and the sensitive areas of the State.
Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito aedes mosquito. The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints.
