Dengue cases lowest in 3 yrs, malaria on rise in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, September 30

The cases of dreaded dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas, are on the decline and are lowest in the past three years while those of malaria, a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans, are on the rise in the district this year, the officials have confirmed.

SITUATION UNDER CONTROL IN STATE

I have reviewed the situation of vector-borne diseases post heavy rainfall in the state, which is under control. All departments concerned have been directed to make collaborative efforts to control the spread of dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. They have been told to ramp up cleanliness activities. — CHETAN SINGH JOURAMAJRA, HEALTH MINISTER

With no death due to dengue reported this year so far, Ludhiana has ranked sixth in the state in terms of total number of cases reported till date, the official figures have revealed.

The State Programme Officer for National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP), Dr Arshdeep Kaur, told The Tribune, on Friday, that three deaths due to dengue, 2,245 positive and 26,344 suspected cases were reported across 23 districts in the state till Thursday when 69 fresh positive and 405 suspected patients were added to the tally.

She said Ropar, Jalandhar and Mansa have reported one dengue death each so far, while Mohali remained the worst-hit district with the highest number of 483 positive and 6,540 suspected cases of dengue this year.

Dr Arshdeep revealed that the incidence of dengue this year was lowest since 2015 with 2,060 cases reported in 2022 so far as compared to 14,149 in 2015, 10,439 in 2016, 15,398 in 2017, 14,980 in 2018, 10,170 in 2019, 8,435 in 2020, and 23,389 confirmed dengue cases reported in the state during the entire past year 2021.

Divulging the figures of Ludhiana district, the Civil Surgeon, Dr Hitinder Kaur Sohal, said that 116 positive and 1,660 suspected dengue cases were reported in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, till Friday. However, no casualty due to dengue was reported till date.

She said the dengue incidence this year was lowest in the past three years as 237 positive cases were reported in Ludhiana till September 30 in 2020 and 184 till date in 2021. While 1,829 dengue cases were confirmed in the district in the entire year of 2021, a total of 1,355 positive cases were reported here from January 1 to December 31 in 2020.

When it comes to malaria, 19 positive cases were reported in Ludhiana this year till Friday, which were highest in the past three years.

While seven malaria patients were confirmed in the district in 2020 till September 30, only three positive cases were reported here in 2021 till date. The entire years of 2021 and 2020 had logged a total of seven malaria cases each in Ludhiana.

On the dengue front, Ropar stood second worst with 409 positive, 1,151 suspected cases and one death, while Fatehgarh Sahib ranked third with 215 confirmed and 883 suspected patients reported till Thursday.

Among other districts, Nawanshahr logged 154 positive and 1,043 suspected cases, followed by Ferozepur 150 confirmed and 1,964 suspected, Pathankot 104 positive and 920 suspected, Patiala 79 confirmed and 1,922 suspected, Jalandhar 77 positive and 583 suspected, Sangrur 73 confirmed and 1,113 suspected, Kapurthala 68 positive and 1,318 suspected, Hoshiarpur 52 confirmed and 1,840 suspected, Bathinda 49 positive and 456 suspected, Malerkotla 35 confirmed and 305 suspected, Amritsar 34 positive and 969 suspected, Faridkot 27 confirmed and 1,170 suspected, Mansa 25 positive and 427 suspected, Fazilka 21 confirmed and 489 suspected, Gurdaspur 19 positive and 174 suspected, Barnala 17 confirmed and 428 suspected, Moga 12 positive and 587 suspected, and Tarn Taran remained the safest district with the lowest of nine confirmed and 198 suspected cases reported this year so far.

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