BHUBANESWAR / CUTTACK: Swine flu and dengue continued to take their toll in the State aggravating panic among people. While swine flu claimed two lives, one succumbed to dengue on Saturday. According to the latest figures, 26 persons have died of swine flu in the last 22 days and dengue has claimed three lives this season. While a 86-year-old male succumbed to swine flu in Kalinga Hospital, a 55-year-old female died in KIIMS Hospital. One person succumbed to dengue fever at SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.
The deceased has been identified as Sanatan Nayak (32) of Bhirapura in Keonjhar district. Even as the number of deaths due to swine flu is negligible compared to other States, health experts fear possibility of a spike in the number of cases in the coming months with cooler temperatures setting in and winter still months away. Director of Health Services Dr Kailash Chandra Dash said more worrying part is how the seasonal flu has struck in the rainy months, moving away from its trend of spreading in winter. “Though it had largely affected people in 2015 after the surge in 2009, the virus did not have a significant effect last year with only sporadic cases reported.
Now that the cases are cropping up during rains, there seems to be a change in the virus. It is a new phenomenon,” Dash said. Since vaccines need at least a month to develop immune system in the body, health officials have recommended early testing and treating for swine flu for bringing down the number of positive cases. Of 839 samples tested so far, 290 have been diagnosed with H1N1 positive. On Saturday alone, nine persons including three women tested positive for swine flu.
On the other hand, of 6,679 samples sent for test, 566 persons tested dengue positive. While Bhadrak has recorded highest 113 patients, 89 people have been affected in Cuttack, followed by 85 in Balasore, 49 in Jajpur and 36 in Khurda. So far, 329 dengue patients have been admitted to SCBMCH this year. Of them, 283 have been discharged after undergoing treatment at the special ward. While six of them belonged to West Bengal and another to Bihar, the rest were from 21 districts of Odisha.