Odisha 7th most dengue-affected in country

| | BHUBANESWAR | in Bhubaneswar

Dengue has been winging out quite fast in Odisha. The State that was at number 13 among 35 States and UTs in 2017, in 2018 has emerged as the 7th most dengue affected State in the country.

The worrying sign is cases of dengue positive have erupted by a whopping 137 per cent in a short span of July-end to mid-August and spread to over 10 districts. The only respite, however, is death toll count is at three only in State.

Trying times ahead for the State Health Department as with massive rains now lashing the districts that recorded high dengue endemicity, there is every possibility of the cases and death toll mounting up to breach the 2017 toll of 4,158 with six mortalities.

According to the State Health Department data, Odisha has till mid-August recorded a whopping around 1,900 dengue positives vis-à-vis of around 796 by July end. The dengue positive rate (total suspected cases to total confirmed positives) has also shown a spike from around 13 per cent in July-end to around 20 per cent as of mid-August.

Interestingly, the State capital is topping the affected list in State. Details show while BDA Colony recorded 254 cases, Nayapalli and IRC Village registered 92, seven in Mancheswar, Niladri Vihar, Jayadev Vihar and Brit Colony have recorded six, four and three cases, respectively. Satya Nagar, OSAP, VSS Nagar and Nageswar Tangi registered two cases each; whereas Old Town, Xavier area, Acharya Vihar, Unit-III and Unit-VI reported one each.

The district-wise details show Cuttack and Rayagada are placed at the second and third spots with 267 and 130 cases, respectively. While Gajapati has registered 61 cases, Puri followed with 54, Jajpur 51, Jagatsinghpur 48, Kalahandi 47, Baleswar 41 and Bhadrak 31, respectively.

As the vector of dengue virus needs warmer water, warmer air and regular precipitation or rainfall, monsoon months have been the ideal environment for the vector (Aedes Egypti) to grow and infect humans.

And data shows villages or places with open water patches or reservoirs have recorded higher cases of dengue in Odisha. Also, significant here is according to a US study, female Aedes needs blood of humans to make eggs.

The significance here is if the vector is controlled or eliminated out of human habitations then the scourge of dengue would cease to exist, as dengue could have been controlled quite easily if respective civic administrations had sprayed oil-insecticide over open water patches regularly to eliminate the life-cycle of vector Aedes Egypti.

State Health Minister Pratap Jena blamed the higher load this year on civic authorities, as he observed Health Department’s duty is to effectively take clinical measures to minimise death rates, and the mortality rate is not climbing up rapidly, he added. It needs mentioning that post Swine-Flu endemic in Odisha in 2010, the State Government then had decided to form a Joint Ministerial Group (JMG) consisting of Health, Urban Development, Rural Department and Mass Education to jointly strategise, monitor and track effective vector control plans in disease endemic districts, which, alas, is lying in cold storage till date.