Following incessant rains and intense waterlogging in Bihar, Patna has come under the threat of dengue outbreak.
Several low-lying areas such as Kankarbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Kadamkuan are waterlogged and residents are under threat of dengue and chikungunya. Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), both government hospitals, have seen a constant influx of patients suffering from dengue.
Acknowledging the spread of the disease, the health department has issued an alert and arrangements have been made at 22 Primary Health Centres in Patna district to counter dengue and other water-borne diseases. From 10 to 12 October, PMCH and NMCH will be free health checkup camps.
However, according to a report, the state health department seemed to contradict itself. While the department denied any spike in dengue cases, health department principal secretary Sanjay Kumar said the number of patients testing positive for dengue was actually falling until the recent upsurge, which he blamed on a "seasonal occurrence" and not waterlogging.
On Saturday, 85 patients, all from Patna city or district, tested positive for the mosquito-borne disease. As per report of the PMCH Virology Department, Saturday marked the highest number of patients testing positive in one day.
Speaking about the same, Dr Ragini Mishra, epidemiologist at the State Health Society, revealed that till Wednesday, 1,277 people tested positive for dengue, of which 1,236 were identified by MAC-ELISA tests.
Furthermore, Private hospitals, which have been treating many cases identified by the rapid diagnostic test as dengue, have been directed to inform the civil surgeon’s office so that the latter conducts the ELISA tests, which as per the health department, is necessary to confirm a case of dengue.
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