Dengue cases rise pan-India, Kerala sees most deaths

Representative image.

The number of people affected by dengue is rising across the country with over 80,000 cases and 60 fatalities reported from 12 states, according to data from the National Centre for Vector-borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).

“In the last two and a half months, we have seen an increased number of dengue cases being reported across several states in the country. Nearly 75 percent of the total cases of dengue have come after June,” said an NCVBDC official.

The official figures, seen by Moneycontrol, shows that 60 deaths have been confirmed from 12 states, with Kerala reporting the most (20) fatalities due to dengue.

“Fatalities have also been reported from Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar and Tamil Nadu,” the official added.

The official said at least 13 high-level multi-disciplinary teams from the Union health ministry are working with state authorities in instituting public health measures for dengue management.

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The ministry had last week rushed a six-member team to Uttar Pradesh for dengue management in Firozabad, Agra and Etawah districts.

Moneycontrol spoke to Dinesh Kumar Premi, chief medical officer, Firozabad, who said that unlike last year when the district reported over 20 casualties due to dengue, the situation this time was under control.

“We have seen nearly 166 cases in the district, of which 156 have been discharged, five patients are under home quarantine and the other five still admitted in the hospital are stable, with platelet counts above 60,000,” Premi said.

The six-member central team to the state has experts from the National Centre for Disease Control, NCVBDC and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi. The team is headed by VK Chaudhary, senior regional director, Health and Family Welfare Office, Lucknow.

Why are dengue cases rising across India?

According to a senior scientist working in the National Institute of Virology, Pune, the extended spell of rains is a primary cause for the rampant spread of dengue in the country.

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“The rains extended till October and this has led to increased mosquito breeding and that is why we are seeing a rise in cases across India,” the scientist said.

When asked if there were any particular serotypes of the virus that cause dengue in people, the official said that DENV-2 serotype was predominant.

“There are four serotypes of the virus that cause dengue: DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4. In the ongoing case rise, the DENV-2 serotype has been detected mostly,” the NIV Pune official said.

“Not just dengue, even chikungunya cases are seeing an increasing trend and precautionary measures must be taken,” the scientist added.

Adult deaths more this time

Though officials didn’t give details of deaths due to dengue, they confirmed that mortality was seen in adults.

“Both cases as well as the deaths are high this year. We saw that last year children died but this time we have seen a rise in the number of deaths in adults,” the NIV Pune scientist said.

Another official said that in some cases the death was suspected to be of a different cause but turned out to be dengue. “We received some samples for a suspected case of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) but after testing it was found to be a dengue case,” she said.

When asked about the immediate strategy for governments in states seeing a rising trend in dengue cases, the NIV scientist said vector control methods need to be implemented on the ground.