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With over 14k cases, Karnataka tops dengue list in the country

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Times of India
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Anil Gejji

BENGALURU: Over 35,079 cases of dengue have been reported from across the six states in south India till October this year, with the maximum number of them coming from Karnataka.

According to information given by the government in Lok Sabha in reply to a question in Lok Sabha during the on-going session, Karnataka tops the list of the states that has reported the maximum number of cases in the country with 14,139 cases. The killer virus has been spreading its tentacles across the country with the six major south Indian states registering more than 50% of the cases. The mosquito-borne tropical disease has so far claimed 36 lives till October across the six states of South India including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The data has also revealed that the country has reported 91,457 cases of dengue till October. The western Indian states of Maharashtra and Goa have reported 9,899 and 908 cases respectively. The number could go up further after the figures for November and December are collated, officials said.

Karnataka, which is better placed in terms of having better health facilities both in private and government sectors, has been witnessing a steep increase in dengue cases. The state had recorded 4,427 cases in 2018.

Of the 14,139 cases reported this year, around 70 percent cases were reported in Bengaluru within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) limits.

Even majority of dengue deaths have reported from South. While 82 people have died due to dengue in the country in 10 months, 56 deaths have occurred in six states of south with Kerala reporting 16 deaths and Karnataka 13.

So, why dengue is rising in South India? According to public health experts lack of public awareness and failure of authorities to contain the menance has led to the increase in mosquito breeding spots in the state. “The need is to create public awareness, which plays an important role in preventing mosquito breeding, said Pankaj Kumar Pandey, commissioner, health and family welfare department, Karnataka.

The government has initiated a campaign in this regard. “The government has taken up massive IEC (information, education, communication) activities across the state with ASHA workers. The health workers will conduct house-house survey and distribute an educational material and a form to fill up. The head of household can fill the form that has queries on their understanding of mosquito control measures. We call this initiative ‘Nagarikarige Ondu Saval (A challenge to public), which has begun from November 1 and goes on till January 30, 2020,” he added.

Some experts feel that the reporting pattern of dengue cases by the state also could be a reason for Karnataka outnumbering rest of the country in dengue. Only north India states which have reported high number of cases are Uttarakhand (9574 cases) and Gujarat (8,410). As many as 12 people have succumbed to dengue in Uttarakhand and eight in Gujarat.

Interestingly, West Bengal, one of the highly populated states, has reported not even a single dengue case.