PremiumHyderabad: Over 4,500 cases of dengue and more than three lakh cases of viral fever have been reported across Telangana since January. The state’s Public Health department and other civic bodies are constantly monitoring the situation and are conducting awareness programmes.
The number of cases of dengue have shot up since August and spiked in September, said an official from the PHMED, who did not want to be quoted.
At the state-run Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases (also known as Fever hospital), close to 1,000 cases of viral fever were reported on some days in August-September.
“Given the current situation, we have also asked all private hospitals to also report all cases of dengue fever to us, which is also one reason why the numbers are high (4,500 plus) this time. However, the main reason behind this outbreak is bad sanitation in homes, where dengue mosquitoes breed wherever there is stagnant water," added the official. He said that viral fever cases usually increase during or after monsoons due to weather changes.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has undertaken a massive awareness campaign on the prevention of dengue in Hyderabad.
The state government, which is under fire from opposition parties and the public has, however, not declared any official deaths so far. Local media reports however contradict it, and said cases of a handful of deaths have been reported from various private hospitals since the beginning of September.
Leaders from the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have attacked the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for failing to control the situation. All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Sravan Dasoju demanded that the state government declare a health emergency in the state.
Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao, director of state Public Health said while his department is doing its best to tackle the disease, such situations can be avoided if the municipalities and village-level civic bodies also do their part in making the public aware.
A doctor from the state-run Gandhi hospital, who did not want to be quoted, said “While we do have dengue cases, most of them are referred to the fever hospital." Private hospital doctors did not want to comment on the issue.
