Fresh figures of the dengue outbreak in West Bengal reveal that over 13,000 people have been affected by the vector-borne disease in the State in the year 2017. “From January 1 till today (October 15 ), 13,589 people have been diagnosed with Dengue. We have reports of 30 deaths,” State Director of Health Services, B.R.Satpathy, told The Hindu . North 24 Paraganas district is the worst affected, Dr. Satpathy said. . Out of the 30 deaths, six were reported from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area and two from the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area.
Preventive measures
As for the steps taken by the Health Department for racking the dengue outbreak Mr. Satpathy said that preventive measures are being taken in 90 municipal areas on house to hose basis.
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“The Health Department has set up 30 blood testing facilities and several fever camps have been set up across the State,” he said adding that in rural areas they are coordinating with the Department of Rural Development to tackle the issue.
Huge rush of patients
Certain public and private hospitals of the city are facing a huge rush of patients with high fever fearing that they are infected by the dengue virus.
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According to Dr. Sathpathi 17,652 people were diagnosed with dengue in the same period while the number of deaths were 37.
On Thursday refuting reports claiming that the State administration was suppressing facts, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the government was keeping record of every death due to dengue in West Bengal.