Cuttack, July 15: Three dengue cases have been reported within the municipal corporation limits over the past fortnight.
A couple and another person at Rausapatna at ward No. 21 have tested positive for dengue.
Four dengue cases have been reported during the past one month and one of them has been discharged from the hospital after necessary treatment.
“So far, rapid tests have indicated that all the three persons have been afflicted with dengue but they have tested negative in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests,” said city health officer P.K. Pradhan.
Denying allegations that a person died of dengue in the city yesterday, Pradhan said the girl in question, who was admitted to a private hospital on July 11, died of jaundice and cardio-respiratory problems.
He said the civic body had intensified operations to tackle the possible outbreak of dengue.
A senior official said the spraying of anti-larvicidal oil and bush-cutting measures has been identified in wards 21 and 23. More than 10 additional staff have been engaged for such work at these localities and emphasis is also being given on creating awareness among people to check accumulation of water in and around their homes. A fogging drive has been launched at both these localities from today and would continue for another couple of days.
Though the health wing of the civic body has not found any larvae of the aedes aegypti mosquitoes, an official said adequate preventive measures were being taken to tackle the situation.
“We will soon seek assistance of the state health department to send an expert team to monitor the situation and detect larvae at various points in the city,” Pradhan said.
Around 50 cases of dengue were reported in Cuttack in 2012 and 17 of them were reported within the corporation limits. Nearly 109 persons were afflicted with dengue in 2011 in the city.
“It seems that the corporation has failed miserably in carrying out a sustainable effort to put a check on mosquito menace in the city. The corporation gears up to tackle the situation only after a dengue or malaria outbreak,” said Kailash Das, a resident of Rausapatna.
