BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has earned the dubious distinction of registering the maximum number of dengue positive cases in the country this season. As many as 3,264 persons have tested dengue positive in 25 districts of the State as on Wednesday while seven persons have succumbed to the disease officially. Odisha is followed by Kerala with 2,252 cases. Sources said West Bengal and Karnataka have reported seven and five deaths respectively. The number of dengue positive cases stood at 995 in WB and Karnataka registered more than 2,200 cases.
With the weather remaining conducive for vector-borne diseasesand cleanliness drives in urban areas going on at a snail’s pace, the dengue situation in the State has worsened in the last few days. While 198 new cases were detected on Tuesday, 94 persons have been diagnosed with the disease on Wednesday. Cuttack, which was at the bottom of the list in early July, now has surpassed the incidents in Keonjhar district. As many as 1,316 persons have tested positive in Cuttack while Keonjhar reported 1,239 cases.
The number of cases in Ganjam,Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur districts is also rising. Ganjam has so far recorded 131 positive cases followed by Jagatsinghpur with 92 cases and Jajpur 98. The authorities of SCB Medical college and Hospital (SCBMCH) at Cuttack have increased the number of beds to 300 and devoted four wards and three ICUs to treat patients. Following the direction of Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Cuttack CDMO PK Behera has sent 10 more doctors to SCBMCH from periphery hospitals. SCBMCH administrative officer PK Mishra said altogether, 35 doctors are keeping round the clock surveillance. Meanwhile, RDC (Central) AB Ota reviewed dengue management at Cuttack and asked officials to increase more beds and intensify all activities since next two months are considered peak season for dengue.
Health experts have demanded the Centre to declare AIIMS as another nodal centre to treat dengue cases as SCBMCH is overcrowded with patients and finding it hard to manage with limited infrastructure.