The Government may not want to acknowledge it while the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been putting up a brave public front.
The alarming fact is that the dengue fever has become endemic in the twin cities with as many as 48 cases confirmed and one suspected case last week alone whereas just three cases were reported during the same time last year.
Cases have been reported from both public and private hospitals as per the information collated by the medical and health authorities from Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad districts.
Sharp contrast
Altogether, from January this year, there have been 200 confirmed and 181 suspected dengue cases reported from different parts of the city in sharp contrast to just 27 confirmed cases last year along with 138 suspected ones.
Malaria, another vector borne diseases spread by the mosquitoes, too is on the upswing with 20 cases reported last week and 439 in the year so far.
It is much more than what has been recorded during the same period last year.
Swine Flu, the air borne disease, which caused such panic a couple of years ago, is also showing a return with 18 deaths last week alone from among patients admitted in designated Government hospitals within the municipal limits including cases from the surrounding districts as well.
About 168 cases were reported this year so far.
All water borne, vector borne and air borne diseases are monitored on a daily basis by the municipal corporation. Diseases like mumps and chicken pox are also high in comparison with last year yet it is dengue and malaria which is giving the officials the heebie-jeebies.
These cases were reported from Malakpet, Hafeezbabanagar, Ziaguda, Ahmednagar, Amberpet, Domalguda, Ramanathapur, L.B.Nagar, Charminar, Dilsukhnagar, Yakutpura, Tolichowki, Musheerabad, Ameerpet, Lakidikapul, S.R.Nagar, Lingampally, Padmaraonagar, Warasiguda, Tarnaka, etc.
The information was startling enough for Additional Commissioner (Health & Sanitation) L. Vandan Kumar to threaten the entomology section of imposing cuts in the salaries wherever high incidence of cases were reported.
It was also decided to take up intense fogging covering 200-odd Government offices and hospitals in the next one week and subsequently, take up the operations in all IT firms and apartment complexes.
