Since January, there have been at least 1,499 cases of dengue and two dengue deaths in the state. (Representational)

Even as health infrastructure is taxed with the increasing number of coronavirus cases, which are nearing the 1-lakh mark in Pune, health authorities in Maharashtra have stepped up entomological surveillance to prevent vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya.

Dr Pradeep Awate, state epidemiologist, told The Indian Express that the most important vector of the dengue virus is the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, and entomological surveillance can help determine the changes in the geographical distribution and density of the vector.

The state government has allocated approximately Rs 1 crore to recruit additional manpower at 11 municipal corporations, which have seen the highest number of dengue cases in the past couple of years.

The funds will be allocated under the National Health Mission and the personnel will be appointed for a period of five months to check hundreds of houses every day for mosquito breeding sites and other vector control measures.

Since January, there have been at least 1,499 cases of dengue and two dengue deaths in the state. Last year, there were 14,888 cases of dengue and 49 deaths. Among the 11 municipal corporations that have reported high number of dengue cases are Kolhapur, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Thane, Nagpur, Sangli, Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Amravati and Solapur.

Last year, Pune reported 2,692 cases of dengue and 12 deaths and 898 cases of chikungunya. This year, according to state entomologist Dr Mahendra Jagtap, there were 79 positive cases and 67 cases of chikungunya in Pune district. Mumbai had reported 917 cases of dengue and three deaths last year while this year, there were 49 cases of dengue. Kolhapur reported the maximum number of cases last year and this year. In 2019, there were 1,940 cases of dengue and nine deaths with another 238 cases of chikungunya in Kolhapur. This year, there were 348 cases of dengue and 156 cases of chikungunya in Kolhapur, Jagtap said.

Meanwhile, there were a total of 42 cases of leptospirosis this year – 32 in Mumbai, nine in Sindhudurg and one in Ratnagiri.

Drop in H1N1 (swine flu) cases

There has been a drop in the total number of H1N1 virus (swine flu) cases this year, Dr Awate said. Last year, there were 2,287 H1N1 cases and 246 deaths across Maharashtra, while this year, there have been three deaths and 119 cases so far. When contacted, Dr M S Chadha, former scientist with the National Institute of Virology, said it is possible the precautionary measures people have taken against Covid-19 has helped bring down the number of influenza cases.

12 outbreaks of water-borne disease across state

There have been 12 outbreaks of water-borne diseases across the state – two of gastroenteritis, nine of diarrhoea and one of viral hepatitis. There were four outbreaks in Kolhapur while other districts like Ratnagiri, Amravati, Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Parbhani and Satara were also affected, Awate said.