After One Year’s Respite, Dengue Returns To Odisha’s Ganjam

Berhampur: Dengue seems to have made a come-back with a vengeance in Ganjam district this year after a respite in 2020.

According to Health department sources, the number of dengue patients has already gone up to 203 in the district with five persons testing positive for the vector-borne disease on Tuesday. The new five patients are undergoing treatment at the new dengue wing of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, here.

The disease first raised its head in June and by August-end, the number of persons affected by dengue stood at 74. New cases are reported from across the district every day. Of the total 203 cases in the district, Berhampur alone accounts for 72 cases so far.

While the dengue menace has reached alarming proportions with heaps of garbage and debris lying in the slums, no steps were being taken to streamline the distressed sanitation system in the district.

More than rural areas, the urban places in the district such as Berhampur, Aska, Bhanjanagar, Digapahandi, Chhatrapur and Hinjulikatu have witnessed a rise on the cases.

Though the Health department has initiated several measures including awareness programmes, there has been no let-up in the spread of the disease. The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) have also taken steps like spraying insecticide and fogging in the town, particularly slum areas.

District Malaria Officer Jagdish Patnaik said insecticide and fogging does not have much impact on dengue virus as it has become immune to such methods.

The district had reported 307 dengue positive cases in 2019 and only nine last year.