The Centre on Tuesday sent teams of experts to nine states and Union Territories to help them manage the dengue outbreak, PTI reported.
Transmitted by female mosquitoes, dengue symptoms vary with some people showing no sign of infection, and others suffering from bad flu-like symptoms. The disease also causes severe pain in muscles and bones.
Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir have recorded a considerable number of dengue cases.
More than 1,530 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi this year so far. Of these, nearly 1,200 were recorded in October alone – the highest count for the month in the last four years.
Punjab has also reported 16,129 dengue cases till October 31 – the highest since 2017, The Indian Express reported.
The expert teams deputed by the Centre include officials from the National Centre for Disease Control and National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.
The Centre has asked the teams to coordinate with the state governments and submit reports to the Union health ministry about the situation, The Times of India reported.
On Monday, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting with officials in Delhi to review the measures taken to contain the vector-borne disease.
He stressed on the need to ramp up dengue testing in the Capital. “Many poor people are not diagnosed properly and their death goes unreported,” he added.
The health minister also said that “some hospitals are overburdened with dengue cases while beds continue to be empty in others”.
Apart from removing stagnant water in houses, restaurants, industries, overhead tanks, Mandaviya asked authorities to identify slums without regular supply of water.
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