Tamil Nadu has logged 4,014 cases of dengue so far. The highest number of cases was reported in October, considering the rainfall. The month saw a substantial rise in caseload, when compared with the previous two months, as there were 813 cases of the fever.
Cases this year are higher than last year’s figures — according to data availed from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the State had recorded 2,410 cases of dengue in 2020. At the start of 2021, there were 402 cases in January. The number rose to 618 in February and 684 in March. After a drop, cases resurfaced in July, when there were 123 cases. From 232 cases in August, the figure nearly doubled to 458 in September. This month (till November 10), 326 dengue cases have been reported in the State.
Among the health unit districts that have been reporting a higher number of dengue cases recently are Pudukottai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Erode and Kancheepuram.
Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine T.S. Selvavinayagam said the department’s in-built mechanism of daily surveillance of fever cases and dengue cases as well as mosquito control continued. Though challenges existed in dengue prevention and control, he said cases would be brought under control. “We have already activated preventive and control measures,” he said.
As of now, 511 people are being treated for dengue in as in-patients. When compared with the last year, the State has tested more samples this year. Till November 10, as many as 1,15,466 samples were tested, as against 33,571 during the same period last year.
In Chennai, officials said 105 cases of dengue were recorded from the five sentinel surveillance hospitals since this January. “In the Greater Chennai Corporation limits, domestic breeding checkers are deployed throughout the year,” an official said. He said focus was on controlling adult Aedes mosquitoes, as heavy rain would have washed away eggs and larvae. “We will focus on reducing the density of adult mosquitoes by carrying out door-to-door fogging. Source-reduction measures that start in April and May help cut out the burden by 50% in the city. The cases usually decrease in December and January as they depend on the weather pattern,” he said.
E. Theranirajan, dean of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said an exclusive ward for dengue had been set up at the hospital. Fever persisting for three days, without responding to paracetamol, pain around the eyes and the back of the head and body ache, rashes appearing on the third or fourth day of fever are all classical symptoms of dengue, he said.
Taking into account seven days of illness, dengue is characterised by a viremic phase for the first three days, followed by a critical phase and a recovery one. Dengue can present as acute abdomen pain or encephalopathy, he said.
“Fluid management is vital. At the same time, over hydration is dangerous,” he added. He said they were liaising with health inspectors for contact tracing of patients with dengue and identification of areas to take up source reduction. Similarly, hospital workers had been sensitised to identify mosquito breeding places, and mass cleaning efforts had been taken up on campus.
He said children should wear clothes that cover their hands and legs fully and use mosquito nets at home.
