BackIn Telangana, heavy rains may aggravate dengue crisis
A staggering 6,100 cases of dengue have been reported during 1 June -28 SeptemberAbout 40% have been reported from Hyderabad and surrounding areas
PremiumHyderabad: Telangana has been witnessing a spate of dengue cases, with the state administration now worried that excessive rains over the past two weeks may aggravate the problem. A staggering 6,100 cases of dengue have been reported during 1 June -28 September, of which about 40% have been reported from Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
The state public health department has been monitoring the situation along with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which has been conducting anti-larvae operations across Hyderabad and surrounding areas. The civic body is also identifying vulnerable areas and localities and sharing the information with the health department.
Dengue cases have been higher this year because the public health department has asked private hospitals to report all such cases.
While dengue cases have been on a rise, the state has also seen over three lakh cases of viral fever so far.
A senior official from the health department, who did not want to be quoted, said cases of dengue had shown signs of easing in September, but due to continuous heavy rains, numbers may go up again if water stagnation is not taken care of. “More than 98% of fever cases are viral and less than 3% are dengue. Now, the problem will begin after a week, if there is water-logging, which will help these vector-borne diseases increase," he added.
Over the last few weeks, Telangana, and especially Hyderabad, has received heavy, incessant rains, with many localities inundated. According to data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), between 19 and 25 September, many of Telangana’s districts received above normal rainfall.
Hyderabad for example, received 155% above normal rains during the period, while in Rajanna Sircilla district rains were a whopping 283% above normal.
A GHMC official, who did not want to be quoted, said the civic body was ensuring that garbage was cleaned regularly across its jurisdictional areas, and it was preparing a comprehensive list of all vulnerable/high mosquito density areas in its limits.
The health department official also said anti-larvae operations across Hyderabad will be taken up by the GHMC to prevent the spread of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus.
“We are working closely with the civic administration, which will continue the anti-larvae operations till the end of October. The density in Hyderabad is high, as it has over 1 crore people, hence cases from the city are high. So far, about 2,500 cases alone have been reported from the GHMC area," the official from the health said. The GHMC area includes core Hyderabad, and also surrounding areas like Malkajgiri, Gachibowli, etc.
When asked will the city administration will declare an epidemic, the official in negative saying "the ones that have been reported are cases wherein the deceased were also suffering from other ailments, which compounded the situation."
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