PARADIP: Dengue threat looms large in flood ravaged Kujang and Tirtol areas of Jagatsinghpur district. While the disease claimed a life recently, five others including two children have been diagnosed as dengue positive.
Low lying areas of Tirtol and Kujang have been the worst hit by flood that marooned nearly 9250 villagers of eight panchayats. Stagnant water left behind by flood has become the breeding ground of dengue larvae. Though medical teams have visited several flood affected areas to check breeding of Aedes (dengue) larvae, containing dengue remains an uphill task.
Sources said hundreds of flood affected people including children have been admitted to Kujang and Manijanga hospitals. One Debasish Sahoo, a Class IX student from Mangarajpur village, has been diagnosed with dengue and shifted to SCB Medcial College and hospital, Cuttack for treatment.
Earlier, another school student, Tipu Tarai, was diagnosed with dengue and admitted to SCB for treatment. One Gangadhar Sethi of Benupur under Jagatsinghpur police limits died due to dengue recently. Sethi contracted the disease while working in a garage in Bangalore. He returned to the district and was admitted to district headquarters hospital. Sethi was shifted to SCB MCH after his condition worsened and he succumbed a few days later. Two migrant workers of Biridi and Kujang have also been detected with dengue virus.
Community awareness programmes are being held in Jagatsinghpur, Kujang and Biridi where cases of migrant workers affected by dengue have been reported.
Chief District Medical Officer Binod Bihari Mohapatra said migrant workers are the carriers of dengue virus. While around 200 dengue positive cases were detected last year, only four to five cases have been reported so far this year.