The mosquito-borne dengue fever has recorded an all time high in the district over the last few years. So far the about 670 positive cases have been recorded over 285 in the previous year. Agreeing that there is a rise in the positive cases of dengue, Collector Pravin Kumar told The Hindu here on Monday that though there was rise in dengue cases by over 120 per cent over the previous year, there is drop in malaria cases by about 35 per cent.
Hostels hit
Incidentally, dengue fever has hit the urban and semi-urban areas more than the rural and tribal areas.
“This is mainly due to the monsoon hitting before time and excess amount of rainfall. We have received reports of dengue from apartment complexes in gated communities and posh areas,” said Mr. Pravin.
But among all, the students in the hostels appear to be the worst hit, especially in the semi-urban and urban areas. Among the four social welfare and ITDA hostels in Visakhapatnam, dengue has reportedly affected about 20 per cent of the inmates. Speaking to The Hindu , a tribal student from Sileru area who is staying at ITDA hostel at Kapparada said, “We have about 170 students and over 30 per cent have been affected with some kind of fever and have gone home.” According to Mr. Pravin Kumar, reports of fever have come from the hostels, but all are not affected with dengue. “Dengue can be confirmed only after a proper test. They may be cases of viral fever or malaria. There were a few cases and they have been treated on time,” he said.
Shortage of blood
Worst part of dengue is the drop in the platelet count in the blood. According to Chairman of Rotary Blood Bank B.K. Rai, the normal platelet count is 1.5 lakh to 4.5 lakh platelets per microliter of blood. In an acute dengue case, if it is not diagnosed and treated on time, platelet count drops and if it drops below 50,000 count, the patient may suffer haemorrhage and there may be bleeding. “In such a case the patient needs immediate platelet transfusion. And at present, all blood banks are running short of the requirement.” “On an average we receive about 40 to 45 requests and are able to supply only to about 20 patients,” he added
According to Mr. Rai, there is a technical problem when it comes to platelets.
“Platelets cannot be stored. We need fresh blood to make platelets and it has to be done within five hours,” said Mr. Rai.
But the Collector said the hospitals have been able to manage so far and no deaths have been reported due to lack of platelets.
