Ludhiana: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the district is suffering an onslaught of dengue too. To date, Ludhiana has recorded the highest number of dengue cases in the past five years.
According to the health department data, the number of cases reported till November 7 was 1,693, including 361 patients of other districts and 46 from outside Punjab.
In 2019, the district had registered 1,509 cases, which was 12.2% less than the hitherto 2020 figure. At 489, the number was the lowest in 2018. As many as 1,083 cases were reported in 2017 and 755 in 2016.
Even as the cases are increasing, no death was reported due to the disease this as well as the previous year, say the health department officials.
The data suggests that the number of dengue deaths was the highest in 2015, when seven patients died of it. The year had seen 1,876 people contracting the disease.
“Even as the number of cases is higher this year, the disease did not snatch any life. We are tackling Covid-19 and working hard to control dengue, too,” says civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga.
“Besides the municipal corporation teams, we have constituted 18 teams, each comprising two members including an assistant malaria officer, to check its spread. The teams visit each sub-division for an inspection. We have divided the city into two parts and deputed supervisors and multi-purpose health workers to monitor the high-risk areas. The department’s anti-larvae workers, too, are on the job. We advise residents to wear clothes that fully cover the body and use mosquito repellants,” he adds.
The health department officials say perhaps because of novel coronavirus, dengue prevention didn’t get much attention. “More cases of dengue are expected and may continue to be reported till November-end,” says an official.
Residents say the authorities should conduct fogging regularly. “MC officials are yet to conduct fogging in many areas. It should be done regularly to check mosquito menace,” says Keemti Rawal, a resident of Chander Nagar.