‘Dengue situation in city improved post-monsoon’

Kolkata: With the retreat of the monsoon from the state, the dengue situation in the city and other south Bengal districts improved much as the number of cases reported in the last week of October and first few days of November, is less.

Sources said that the city registered more than 11,000 dengue cases till October 20 since January 2023. During the Durga puja week, Kolkata saw around 1,300 fresh cases. In the past one week the figure dropped to below 1,000. Experts feel that the situation improved after the monsoon retreated. Health department sources said the total number of infected people in 16 South Bengal districts and the ‘health districts’ crossed 60,000 till October, this year. Sources also said nearly 8,000-9,000 people got infected with dengue in a week on several occasions in the past. Even in this year, the number of cases was more in villages. The experts have pointed out that the basic characteristics of villages are changing and this could have led to the rise in infection. The number of total infected patients has crossed the 60,000-mark this season. North 24-Parganas has registered the highest number of dengue cases among the districts so far.

Fresh spells of rain that hit several North and South Bengal districts have aggravated dengue menace in the city in October. The number of infected cases has crossed 15,000 in the case of North 24-Parganas while Kolkata so far has seen 11,000 cases. The number of infected people also crossed 7,000 marks in Murshidabad followed by Nadia over 5,000 and Hooghly over 4,000.

The Health department has been monitoring the situation under various civic bodies which are conducting anti-larvae operations in various areas. The civic bodies are also identifying vulnerable areas and localities and sharing the information with the health department. Public health experts in Bengal earlier claimed that dengue will subside after it stops raining and the temperature drops below 15 degrees.