*Most of cases being logged in urban areas
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, Oct 9: The Dengue cases are on surge in Jammu and Kashmir as over 2400 cases have been reported so far this year from various parts of the Union Territory with Jammu district topping the chart as more than 80 % of the total cases have been reported alone from Jammu district and most of them from urban areas.
Official sources told Excelsior that a total of 9487 tests for Dengue have been conducted so far this year in J&K and out of which 2426 reported positive. Elaborating more, they said that out of total 2426 cases, only 3 cases have been reported from Kashmir region and that too of non-locals while 5 cases of locals were reported from other States/UTs.
Giving district wise data, sources said that more than 80 percent cases of Dengue have been reported from Jammu district and a majority of the cases have been logged in urban areas, particularly Rehari, Sarwal, Paloura and Janipur. They said a total of 2092 cases have been reported from Jammu district, 81 from Samba district, 71 from Udhampur, 47 each from Kathua and Reasi districts, 28 from Doda, 17 from Ramban, 16 from Rajouri, 14 from Poonch and 5 from Kishtwar district.
Sources further informed that a total of 270 tests for Dengue were conducted today in the Union Territory and out of these 77 were found positive. They said the intensity of the Dengue spread in Jammu can be gauzed from the fact that out of 77 cases reported today, 75 belong to Jammu while only one each were reported from Samba and Ramban districts. Of the 77 cases, they said 67 were adults and 10 children.
They said most of the Dengue cases in the UT were reported in the month of September. They further revealed that 37 cases were reported on October 3, 82 on October 4, 46 on October 5, 72 on October 6, 135 on October 7 and 75 on October 8. They said with the change in weather and control measures taken by Health Department, the cases will start declining after 10-15 days. Pertinently, a total of 1709 Dengue cases and 4 deaths due to the vector-borne disease were reported last year in J&K, however, according to the sources no official death due to Dengue has been reported so far this year, which is a matter of satisfaction.
Sources said that every year after monsoon season, some Dengue cases are reported but sudden rise in cases this season, particularly in Jammu district has increased their problems. They said on its part, the Department is doing everything from fogging to destroying breeding sites and creating awareness among public to control the Dengue spread but public should also realize their responsibility and should not allow water to stagnate inside and outside their houses.
“Citizens should change water in flower pots/money plant pots and water-coolers after every 7 days and does not allow stagnation of water in scrap materials such as old tyres and cans on their roof top or neighbourhood as after 7 days, mosquito larvae starts developing in stagnant water,” they said adding, people should also prevent themselves from mosquitoes bites and for this they may use mosquito repellents and may wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
They claimed that the Department has already completed two rounds of fogging in the urban areas and besides this the teams of Health Department are also doing fogging at residences and surrounding areas of those found affected with Dengue, and if any breeding site is found nearby, it is destroyed by the field workers.
Sources further said some vested interests are spreading unnecessary panic among the patients and their attendants regarding shortage of platelets in Government Health institutions in Jammu which is completely misleading. He said earlier, the patients were depend for platelets only on Government Medical College Jammu but now Government Hospital, Gandhi Nagar has also this facility but public is unaware of it.
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