Dengue cases rise to 3328 in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has so far tested 49,488 samples for dengue and among them, 3,328 have been found positive, Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra informed on Wednesday.

He further said that the test is being conducted free of cost at 40 sentinel sites in 30 districts of the state to check the spread of the vector-borne disease. “Last year around 21,000 samples were tested. Therefore, the number tests conducted this year is over twice that of last year,” he said.

The serological diagnosis by ELISA test kit is the right method for confirmation of dengue fever, he added.

According to the state health department, maximum cases have been detected from Khurda district and 90% of them are from Bhubaneswar, where the caseload is inching closer to 1,500 mark. Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli, Bhimatangi, Unit IX and Unit VI are among dengue hotspots in the city. A dedicated counter for testing of the vector-borne disease has also been opened at Capital Hospital. An official from the department said two more testing centres have been planned at Patia CHC and IRC Village Urban PHC and they are likely to be made functional from this week.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation is creating awareness about the disease among residents, especially in slums, through its ‘Ghara Ghara Samparaka Abhiyan’. Thousands of mosquito breeding grounds have also been destroyed in different parts of the city to check its spread.