Karnataka faces 9.3k dengue cases, over half in B'luru

Three more dengue deaths have been reported in the state, taking the toll to six. A high incidence in the state has pushed the Health and Family Welfare department to initiate measures on war-footing to contain the disease.

So far, 9,374 cases of dengue have been reported in the state. Bengaluru (BBMP limits) alone accounts for 5,832 cases. Two deaths have been reported from the Bengaluru Urban district that has reported 47 positive cases.

A 35-year-old patient who was admitted to St Johns Hospital in Bengaluru died of dengue on July 26. A resident of Anjanapura’s Gollahali, she had fever since July 7.

In yet another case from Bengaluru Urban district, a 37-year-old woman from Vibhutipura, complained of fever and other typical dengue symptoms since July 24 and died on July 30.

Dakshina Kannada district also saw a high number of dengue cases and the Health department officials attributed it to sporadic rains, initially.

With 930 cases, the district saw a second death in July. A 35-year-old male patient died at Kasturba Medical College Hospital of dengue. This is the second death reported from the district.

Delayed confirmation

Although dengue deaths occurred in July, the Health and Family Welfare department made the details public nearly a month later. When asked, Dr Mahmood Shariff, researcher, National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme, said that the confirmation of deaths due to dengue takes a longer time.

“There is a committee that is constituted to look into deaths. A team visits the house of the patient, sees where he could have travelled in the recent past and examine his medical records. The report is sent from the district officials to the directorate which is assessed yet again before being declared as ‘death due to dengue’,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BBMP alone accounts for more number of cases than the total of all other districts combined in the state. Dr Shariff blamed the BBMP for poor management and attributed this to the lack of manpower.

“We have written to the BBMP and also informed the government. The concern is that they do not have enough health workers,” said Dr Shariff.