Cuttack: The apprehension of physicians that there would be a spurt in dengue cases following a dip in the mercury caused by rainfall is turning out to be true with SCB Medical College and Hospital receiving a steady flow of patients affected by the dreaded mosquito-borne disease for the past 10 days.

A special dengue ward was made operational at the hospital on June 18 following instructions from the health department in the wake of reporting of cases from various parts of the state in the first two weeks of June.

SCB authorities said there had since been a steady flow of dengue patients. About 30 patients are turning up at the hospital's dengue ward every day with symptoms of dengue. Of them, about nine patients are requiring admission.

"Patients with dengue-like symptoms are being thoroughly checked and admitted without delay. Free blood tests and emergency treatment is being provided to them," said assistant nodal officer for treatment of dengue cases Sriprasad Mohanty.

The state-run hospital has tested 358 samples for dengue. A total of 47 patients were admitted to SCB's dengue ward this year, of which 21 patients, including four at the intensive care unit, are still undergoing treatment.

Dengue patients are coming to SCB from Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Khurda, Cuttack and Puri districts.

A resident of Nandipada area in Keonjhar district has died while undergoing treatment at SCB on June 24.

Fifty more beds have been added to the hospital's 100-bed dengue ward this year keeping in view the huge turnout of dengue patients last year.

Last year, dengue patients came to the hospital in Cutttack from almost every part of the state.

However, more than 85 per cent patients came from coastal districts, such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda and Puri.

Eviction

The central eviction monitoring committee conducted an eviction drive near Iskcon Temple in Bhubaneswar to avoid waterlogging in the area.