3 new dengue cases in Jalandhar dist

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 17

With three more dengue cases being reported in the district on Friday, the total number of such cases has reached nine. These are the first three cases to be reported in Jalandhar-based hospitals in the district. Previously, six dengue cases in Jalandhar residents were reported and they were all under treatment at DMC, Ludhiana, regarding which the Health Department had received notification from Chandigarh.

While hundreds of cases have been reported in neighbouring districts, Jalandhar has so far reported very few cases as compared to the cases reported on the periphery. However, a steady stream of fever cases in the district is keeping the Health Department on its toes.

Of the three new cases reported in the district, one is from the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, and the other two are from Sacred Heart Hospital as well as PIMS. The patients have been identified as a seven-year-old boy of Gandhra; a 49-year-old woman, who is a resident of Bachint Nagar, and a 59-year-old man from Rishi Nagar in Jalandhar. Notably, of the 15 to 16 suspected dengue cases in the district, the report of three came out positive.

Meanwhile, three dengue larvae were found in health surveys and the larvae were destroyed on the spot.

Three new dengue larvae were found during inspections at Punjab Roadways Workshop 2 and other areas in Jalandhar on Friday. The three larvae were destroyed on the spot. Health teams on Friday visited Mohalla Karar Khan, Shiv Nagar, Sodal Nagar and Punjab Roadways Workshop 2 where the dengue larvae found were destroyed upon finding them. Anti-larvae teams also conducted Temiphos spray at 93 houses visited by health teams.

Epidemiologist Dr Aditya Paul said, “We have been carrying out inspections and testing whichever cases of dengue suspects we find with fever. All the larvae we have found have been promptly destroyed. Three new cases of dengue have been reported on Friday. Surveys are being conducted in the areas where they were reported and health teams are on their toes.”

Scrub typhus claims 27-yr-old’s life

• A 27-year-old woman lost her life to scrub typhus in the district on Friday. The case was reported at Jamsher Khas a day ago. With dengue registering a rise after days and the first scrub typhus death reported in the district, there is alarm among residents
• While so far 13 people have tested positive in the district for scrub typhus, the 27-year-old’s is the first death recorded in Jalandhar from the disease. She was intially admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh, from where she was brought back. The patient died in Jalandhar.
• Scrub typhus is caused by a bacteria, which is transmitted by the larvae of a mite. Upon being bitten, there is a black escher formation in the area where a person is bitten, which is followed by high-grade fever. Doctors warned that it is usually transmitted in moist areas with low-lying vegetation with damp plants and shrubbery