No medical emergency in state due to dengue: Karnataka Health minister

Bengaluru: The present situation in the state does not need call for declaring medical emergency in the state due to dengue, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Monday.

Acknowledging the increasing number of dengue cases in the state, Dinesh said that surveillance activities have been ramped up.

“There is no shortage of beds or medicines. We have held a meeting with the technical advisory committee, who suggested that there is no need to declare a medical emergency,” he said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation issued a rejoinder late on Saturday clarifying that there is no shortage of paracetamol tablets for dengue treatment in the state.

The rejoinder was in response to High Court advocate Prashanth Methal’s complaint to the chief minister on July 5. The response clarified that the total demand for paracetamol 650 mg tablets across medical institutions in Karnataka for the year 2023-24 stood at 8.72 crore - which has been supplied.

As of July 4, as many as 3.7 crore tablets were available in the 27 drug warehouses across the state. Besides this, 3.18 crore paracetamol 650 mg tablets were available across state medical institutions.

Similarly, 10.04 crore paracetamol 500mg tablets have been supplied across the state; 5.76 lakh bottles of paediatric paracetamol (250mg/5ml) are available in drug stores while 3.86 lakh bottles have been sent to various medical institutions. Nearly 33.09 lakh bottles of paracetamol syrup and 6.90 lakh bottles of paracetamol oral drops are in stock.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed deputy commissioners and district health officers (DHO) to fight dengue on a war footing and ensure swift action at the taluk-level.

According to data presented to the CM, authorities have conducted 45,513 dengue tests between January and June this year. Of them, 5,749 returned positive. During the year 2023, the number of tests done was 25,368 and positive cases were 2,206.

As on Monday, the state recorded a total of 7,362 positive dengue cases, 303 patient hospitalisations, and seven deaths since January 1.