Bihar: Hospitals asked to buckleup for dengue outbreak

PATNA: Taking a lesson from last year when the state recorded highest number of dengue cases, the health department has started preparing early to tackle the disease this time. It has instructed authorities of all the medical college and hospitals to keep test kits in store and make platelets available in their blood banks.
The health department has also asked the urban local bodies to ensure that fogging is done in the city areas properly to avoid breeding of mosquitoes. Last year, 13,972 dengue cases and 32 deaths were registered in Bihar.

According to data available with Union health ministry's National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control, at least 2.33 lakh dengue cases were registered across the country in 2022 and at 13,972, Bihar was at the second position after Uttar Pradesh where 19,826 cases were recorded.
State health department secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said as dengue cases start increasing after monsoon, efforts are being made to contain the spread of the disease. "A meeting was held with the heads of all the medical college and hospitals and civil surgeons on Friday. They were asked to take necessary steps to fight the disease. The civic bodies have also been asked to carry out fogging properly," Singh said.
Singh said 21 dengue cases have so far been registered in the state. "The dengue cases start increasing after the monsoon, especially from August onwards and till October," he added.