Spurt in dengue cases in Khammam

Dengue cases were mainly reported from Kallur and Raghunadhapalem mandals and Khammam town.

October 19, 2021 10:24 pm | Updated October 20, 2021 09:49 am IST - KHAMMAM

The overcrowded fever ward of the governent district headquarters hospital in Khammam on Tuesday.

The overcrowded fever ward of the governent district headquarters hospital in Khammam on Tuesday.

The district has so far this year recorded a little over 700 confirmed cases of dengue, with more than 70% of these cases reported in the past two and a half months, registering a sudden spurt in dengue cases in the past couple of weeks.

The total number of dengue cases this year has increased multifold when compared to 23 cases reported last year, when the district grappled with the outbreak of COVID-19.

A staggering number of 1972 dengue cases were reported in the district in 2019. The district recorded the highest number of dengue cases in the entire State during 2019, triggering demands for declaration of health emergency from various quarters, sources said.

Bonakal, Chintakani, Khammam rural and Kallur mandals reeled under the grip of dengue for several weeks during 2019. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll from dengue during 2019 at 10, which the health department officials refused to acknowledge.

This year, dengue cases were mainly reported from Kallur and Raghunadhapalem mandals and Khammam town since August. Around 120 dengue cases were reported from the Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC) limits spanning 60 divisions, sources added.

The COVID-19 daily positivity rate continued to remain well below 1% in the district, much to the relief of frontline functionaries of health and related departments. However, the spurt in dengue cases in several mandals triggered public health concerns.

The intense spells of rain in the last two months led to waterlogging in several parts of the district, resulting in insanitary conditions.

The official machinery scaled up the sanitation drive and anti-larva operations in the district with focus on the areas from where dengue cases were reported. House-to-house surveys were conducted to identify mosquito breeding sites and anti-larva operations including pyrethrum spraying were carried out, KMC sources said.

More than 6000 samples were tested for dengue at the public health lab of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) in the district headquarters hospital in Khammam so far this year.

Sources in the health department said a total of 249 confirmed cases of dengue were reported in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district till the second week of October this year. The tribal majority district recorded around 244 malaria cases as against 330 cases reported last year.

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