85 cases of dengue reported in July

Private hospitals say the number could be higher

Pathetic state:Stagnant water on the road and an overflowing open drainage have turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes, on Infantry Road in Bengaluru.— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

The sporadic heavy rain has taken its toll on Bengaluru’s health, with doctors reporting an increase in dengue cases in recent weeks.

According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, 85 cases have been confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) since July 1. A total of 675 cases have been confirmed since January.

While these are cases confirmed by the NIV, private hospitals say the number could be higher. The most recent case of a suspected dengue death was that of a 27-year-old woman in a private hospital in south Bengaluru on Monday.

Shilpi Singi, internal medicine consultant of Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Whitefield, said the hospital had around 1,500 suspected cases of dengue in the last two months, confirmed by the rapid card test, which gives results in half-an-hour. “Out of 40 patients I see daily, about 15 show clinical symptoms of dengue and 1 per cent to 2 per cent are severe,” said Dr. Singi.

Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road, claimed to be getting eight to 10 cases of dengue every day. “There has been a significant increase in the number of cases since the rain started,” said Kalpana Janardhan, general physician at Apollo Hospitals. “Of these, nearly 40 per cent to 50 per cent are admitted to the hospital, out of which nearly 10 per cent are quite sick.”

Dr. Janardhan said: “When there is a spell of rain followed by a bout of dryness for about three days, there is an increase. Even otherwise, when it’s continuously raining we get cases. More rain leads to more mosquitoes and rise in dengue cases.”

Doctors say that many patients wait for fever to subside, coming to them only when their platelet counts are alarmingly low.

“Usually, for the first two-three days the patient goes to a local doctor. After three days, when they get tested the platelet count would have gone down to 70,000 to 80,000,” said Dr. Janardhan.

‘Suspected cases only’

However, BBMP Health Officer (Public Health) M.N. Lokesh said the cases being reported from hospitals were suspected cases only.

“The card method gives only 30 per cent confirmation. Unless the suspected cases are confirmed by the ELISA test, they cannot be considered confirmatory,” said Dr. Lokesh. The ELISA test takes a day for results to be found.

BBMP public health officials say the incidence has been lower when compared with last year. Mr. Lokesh added that the temperature was not conducive for mosquito breeding. “The temperature is around 26 degrees Celsius, and mosquitoes usually thrive in slightly higher temperatures.”