Dengue outbreak hits State

As many as 458 cases reported in Assam, city records 378 cases 

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 18: As many as 458 cases of dengue have been reported this season in the State.

Sources said the highest number of dengue cases has been detected in Kamrup (M) district in the state.  A total of 378 dengue cases have been confirmed in the district.

Last year, the state saw a staggering 1076 dengue cases with the disease claiming one life, as NHM report. Dibrugarh recorded 15 cases while Kamrup and Sivasagar districts this year recorded seven cases each.

Darrang district has recorded six cases while Dhubri and lbari recorded five cases, NHM sources said. Four cases each from Barpeta, Bongaigaon, gaon, Tinsukia and Baksa districts have been reported. Three cases each in Dhemaji, Morigaon and Goalpara have been detected while Golaghat and Jorhat each recorded two cases.  One case each in Hailakandi and Lakhimpur districts have been confirmed.

Health department sources said most of the cases were reported during and after the recent floods though it has no direct bearing on the disease.

Health department officials said the cases detected so far have not turned severe and patients are being treated in different government and private hospitals across the state. Since this vector borne disease lacks a definite treatment, only symptomatic treatment is administered to the patients.

Dengue is caused by the bite of the A. Aegypti mosquito that breeds in clean stagnt water. The symptoms of the disease are high fever, severe headache, severe muscle and joint pain, vomiting, usea and skin rashes. If left untreated the infection can further progress into a dengue haemorrhagic fever that can cause bleeding through the nose or gums, low platelet count and low blood pressure that can prove fatal.

Besides dengue, other vector-borne diseases -Japanese encephalitis, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) - have claimed as many as 173 lives this year till August 17.

Of the 173 cases of death, 78 deaths have been confirmed due to Japanese encephalitis, state Health Department sources said.

Malaria has killed three people in the state while 3038 cases confirmed positive.

Sources pointed out as many as 1,511 cases of AES have been detected of which 360 cases have been confirmed as JE and 458 cases as dengue.

Sources further said that these are conservative statistics and the cases are likely to increase.