The number of positive dengue cases detected at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack stood at 132 on Saturday. File picture

Bhubaneswar/Angul, Aug.13: The dengue toll in Orissa rose to eight with the death of another person in a case of suspected dengue at a private nursing home in Cuttack late last night.

The deceased, identified as Prafulla Behera, belongs to Kaniha in Angul district. Four others from the same locality are also undergoing treatment for dengue at the nursing home.

With the Millennium City registering the second suspected dengue deaths of the season, the district administration swung into action today and ordered another round of blood tests of “dengue patients” undergoing treatment at various private nursing homes in the city.

The total number of positive cases detected at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, reached 132 today. By this afternoon, 55 samples reached the medical college for screening. Currently, there are 60 suspected dengue patients undergoing treatment at the hospital, out of which 36 have tested positive. Hospital sources said 12 were released by Saturday after recovering from the fever.

A two-member central team headed by C.S. Agrawalla of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and Kalpana Baruah of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, today visited Talcher where dengue broke out first and has spread to many districts in the state. But they did not visit the worst-affected village of Kalamchuin where dengue was first detected on July 23 by the doctors of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). The central team also had as member senior scientist from Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Bhagirathi Dwivedi.

The team members first visited MCL Central Hospital in the morning and held meetings with the company doctors and state government doctors over the outbreak of dengue. They stressed the need for a massive awareness drive to educate people on how to prevent the disease. They also asked MCL doctors why so many patients had been referred to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar when treatment facilities are available at the local hospital.

“The MCL doctors replied that patients prefer to go outside as they believe they will get better treatment there, and anyway, the company bears the cost of their medical expenses,’’ the source added.

The team then went to Ananta Colliery where they found waterlogging at a number of places. They advised the coal authorities to cover the water bodies and stored water to avoid mosquito breeding. The central team, accompanied by local MLA Braja Kishor Pradhan, also went to two other villages and interacted with local residents.

On July 23, an MCL doctor Dr Asoke Kumar Jena first detected dengue in a patient from Kalamchuin, Sanatan Mahanty. Three other persons were also found positive afterwards at the MCL Central Hospital.

But the local healthcare delivering agencies ignored this then. “Had they acted promptly, the situation would not have not been so complicated today,’’ a local resident said.

The central team is holding meeting with Angul district authorities and will stay till August 17 at Angul, according to the chief district medical officer, R.C. Behera.