MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Under a two-pronged attack by dengue fever and chikungunya, India need not look hard for a brand ambassador for the mosquito-borne afflictions: Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has been diagnosed with suspected dengue.
The actress, who is the face of the government’s sanitation initiative, has been diagnosed with dengue after her return from the United States where she shot for a film titled Kahaani 2.
News of Vidya Balan’s suspected illness swung the Maharashtra government’s focus to the upsurge of dengue cases in the state. Maharashtra public health minister Dr Deepak Sawant called in the state’s Communicable Diseases Prevention Committee for a review of the situation. A team of officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited Vidya Balan’s bungalow in Juhu to check whether there were any breeding places for mosquitoes around.
“We did visit her house after seeing reports of her diagnosed with dengue and found some places on the terrace,” BMC’s executive health officer Dr Padmaja Keskar said.
With dengue numbers being reported from places as far apart as Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, attention in the nation’s capital continued to be trained on its own malaise.
The Centre on Friday sought a detailed report from the Delhi government on dengue and chikungunya deaths, including the medical history of the deceased. At least 30 deaths have been attributed to the two vector-brone diseases in Delhi so far. Mumbai has reported 122 positive cases of dengue this year.