20 dengue cases erupt in single day, VMC draws flak

VADODARA: Amid major scare of fast-spreading swine flu, there is no respite from dengue cases too. Panic buttons were pressed when 20 dengue cases were reported on a single day on Friday.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) monitors vector-borne diseases on a daily basis and the data on Friday surprised many. With fresh 20 cases, the total number of dengue cases that erupted this year went up to 259. While this is lower than the 507 cases reported in the entire year in 2018, the VMC is already drawing flak for deteriorating health situation.

VMC officials said that steps like fogging, anti-larval activity and door-to-door surveys were in progress. “The rise is witnessed in this season every year. The situation this year is better barring the number of cases reported on Friday,” said VMC medical officer (health) Dr Mukesh Vaidya.

The civic body has drawn criticism from the elected representatives in the general board too. Councillors from both the opposition Congress and the ruling parties expressed their concern regarding the situation on Thursday. After the representations, the administration had come up with a detailed account of steps taken by it.

Details available with the civic body also suggest that the city has witnessed the highest number of chikungunya cases since 2012.

With nine new cases being reported on Friday, the total number of cases of the disease went up to 166. Sources, however, said that the symptoms of chikungunya were not as severe as that reported during a major outbreak about a decade back.

It is, however, believed that the VMC statistics of diseases are off the mark and the situation is graver.

The civic body only counts cases tested positive at the SSG Hospital in the city or counts patients that its health department diagnoses or treats.