Aug. 29: South Dinajpur health authorities will start a dengue screening camp at the district hospital from tomorrow where blood samples of people with symptoms related to the disease will be tested.

Earlier blood samples had to be sent to Calcutta for dengue detection.

North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri opened a “fever clinic” yesterday to identify patients with dengue and start treatment.

“Our staff will collect blood samples from the areas where a lot of people are suffering from high fever. The samples would be tested at the camp. Dengue is spreading rapidly in the state and we cannot take any risk. Earlier, blood samples had to be sent to Calcutta (for tests) and the reports used to reach us late,” said Kajal Kumar Mandal, the chief medical officer of health.

The tests would be done free of cost.

“We will conduct the NS1 test (the rapid preliminary screening test) at the camp. On the fifth day of fever the MAC ELISA test, which is a confirmatory test for dengue, would be done,” Mandal said.

Health officials said around 100 people at Munglishpur in Kumaganj block, 20km from Balurghat, and 15-20 people at Nalipara in Tapan block have complained of high fever.

In Siliguri, NBMCH superintendent Sabyasachi Das said: “As some patients have been detected with dengue in Siliguri and the nearby areas in the one past week, we have opened a separate OPD, or the “fever clinic” since yesterday.”