• Odia boy Avinash Rout, 7, dies in Delhi of dengue after allegedly being denied admission in seven hospitals. Shattered at their son's death, his parents commit suicide by jumping off a four-storey building.
• Delhi resident dies at SCB hospital in Cuttack, where 61 cases have been reported.
• Forty-nine dengue cases reported in Bhubaneswar, majority of the patients being treated at Capital Hospital.
• Across the state, 500 persons are reported to be suffering from dengue

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Sept. 18: The twin cities are taking a host of measures to check the spread of dengue to prevent a situation like in New Delhi, where 17 people have died and hospitals grappling with rising number of patients.

Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said the corporation would shortly devise a cleanliness strategy to fight dengue in the city and also take up an awareness drive.

"Bush-cutting, drain-cleaning and removing stagnant water from around houses will be carried out in a special drive and the date will be notified shortly," he said.

The Cuttack district administration today directed the civic body to carry out a sanitation drive keeping in view the dengue scare in the state.

The move comes in the wake of incessant rain triggered by the low pressure earlier this week.

The authorities fear that the accumulated water might lead to the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the dengue virus. Officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have started door-to-door surveillance and screening of fever cases to ensure that dengue patients get treatment at the earliest.

"We have already issued instruction to the CMC to launch a sanitation and dengue awareness drive in the city," said collector Nirmal Mishra, adding that anganwadi workers had also been roped in to create awareness about the symptoms, prevention and cure of the disease in Cuttack.

City health officer, Cuttack, P.K. Pradhan said five teams had already been formed to conduct a door to door screening of fever cases in the municipal corporation limits.

"We want to send across the message that people should conduct a dengue test whenever they have fever so that they get treatment at the earliest," said Pradhan, adding that the spraying of larvicide oil had been intensified in all the 59 wards and nearly 40 anganwadi workers were engaged to conduct a detail assessment of the sanitation drive.

"A special emergency meeting will be held on Monday to chalk out a detailed plan to combat and contain the spread of dengue in Cuttack," said Ranjan Biswal, chairman of the CMC standing committee on public health.

The authorities at SCB Medical College and Hospital said so far 60 dengue positive cases had been reported from Cuttack this year, but all the patients had a travel history and it was suspected that they contracted the dengue virus from other parts of the country including Delhi, Bengal, Bangalore and Hyderabad. An SCB official said dengue positive cases have been reported from 17 districts in the state this year.

Though a 36-bed special dengue ward has been functioning at the SCB since August, the bed capacity will be increased shortly to accommodate the rising number of dengue patients from various parts of the state.

"We have decided to increase the bed capacity to 72 by Saturday," said the hospital's emergency officer B.N. Moharana. He said 54 dengue patients were being treated at the ward, while seven critically ill patients have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

"At present, Odisha has around 500 patients affected by dengue," joint director of public health Bikas Patnaik said.

Deputy director (vector-borne diseases) Madan Mohan Pradhan said: "This year's dengue scenario in the state has seen most of the affected getting the virus from places such as Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The reported death in the state is linked to Delhi. The various industrial belts in the state are vulnerable."

Pradhan said: "Dengue is a self-healing disease, but it might cause problems if it is neglected and goes out of control. The symptoms include fever, headache, body ache and spots and patches similar to measles. One should not panic and try to consume as much water as possible. The patient should take rest and if needed, take paracetamol to lessen pain and discomfort."

However, he cautioned against taking painkillers other than paracetamol, saying it could lead to complications.