Educational institutions in Diphu to remain shut for a week as dengue cases surge

GUWAHATI: The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) administration on Sunday declared the closure of all educational institutions in Diphu town this week, amid an alarming surge in dengue cases in the area. Health department officials said the total number of infections stood at 271 in Diphu alone this season, while the number of deaths stood at three.
The order issued by KAAC principal secretary stated that as a preventive measure against the impending epidemic, all government and private educational institutions, from pre-schools to colleges, falling within the Diphu Municipal Board and the greater Diphu town area, will remain closed from Monday to Saturday. The order said the decision was made in the wake of an abormal rise in infections and following a letter from the joint director (health).
Municipal areas in Diphu town have seen an unprecedented rise in dengue cases recently. As many as 32 patients were admitted to Diphu Medical College & Hospital (DMCH) until Sunday afternoon, health department officials said.
The state health department has sent 10 medical teams, each led by a doctor, to the affected areas in Diphu, which reported at least eight more dengue positive cases on Sunday. As many as 35 cases were detected there a day earlier when the season’s cumulative confirmed cases following ‘NS1/ IgM ELISA’ testing rose to 263.
“All dengue cases, reported in and around Diphu, in which patients need hospitalisation are being shifted to the DMCH for special care. None of them are in the ICU as of today,” an official said on Sunday. “A considerable number of the dengue positive patients are under observation of health teams in their homes. Though the number of confirmed cases has gone up due to massive testing carried out in the municipal areas of Diphu, the good part is that most of the cases have been detected,” he added.
Cases with symptoms of fever, headache, retro orbital pain and vomiting have been reported from various wards of the municipality areas of Diphu since October. However, the state health department has not yet revealed the reason behind this unexpected rise of dengue cases in Diphu — one of the sparsely populated district headquarters in Assam, where the population was merely 61,797, as per the 2011 census.