Awareness campaign launched in Cuttack to combat dengue. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Aug. 17: The Capital Hospital started its Elisa (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) test facility while the ‘Dengue Rath’, was launched in Cuttack to spread awareness on the disease.

So far, dengue has claimed 15 lives, including one who died at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The modern Elisa machine will be used to detect dengue and chikungunya blood samples. Among the three state-run medical colleges, only the Capital Hospital has the Elisa facility. It was purchased for Rs 5.09 lakh provided by the National Rural Health Mission.

“Blood tests provided by the Elisa machine to know the conformity of diseases like dengue or chikungunya is highly dependable and it will be of great help not only to patients of the city, but also for people coming from other districts such as, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh and Jagatsingpur,” said chief medical officer Nirmala Dei.

Sources at the health and family welfare department said another Elisa machine would soon be installed at the Koraput District Headquarters Hospital.

In another development, 97 blood samples were tested today at the three state-run hospitals for suspected dengue cases and 53 were found positive. Sources said that till today, a total of 295 samples were found positive out of 721 samples tested for dengue in the state.

On the other hand, as part of the awareness campaign on dengue, the state government has decided to launch a 10-day cleaning campaign in urban areas to prevent the spread of dengue. As part of the drive, the ‘Dengue Rath’ would move in different parts of Cuttack to sensitise people on the disease.

“Sensitising programme has already started and through the awareness campaign, we plan to reach out each individual and household to combat the menace,” said district collector Girish SN.

A rally was also organised from the indoor stadium and the ‘Dengue Rath’ covered areas, including Barabati Stadium, Cantonment Road, Mangalabag and S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital. Holding placards in their hands, various officials of the district administration, NGOs, voluntary groups apart from actors, including Sritam Das, Kuna Tripathy and others, participated in the rally.