Fall in malaria, chikungunya cases in city

Patiala, September 2

Taking a notice of the last year’s omission, the district health authorities have been able to control the spread of vector-borne diseases this year.

As per the data received from the Health Department, there is a drastic drop in cases of chikungunya and malaria till August this year. However, the real test will be in the coming days when the spread of these diseases would increase. 

There were 14 cases of chikungunya last year until August, but no case has been reported this year till date.

With just 10 cases in Patiala, another vector-borne disease, malaria, is also under control this year. In 2017, 21 cases were recorded till August.

As many as 284 cases of malaria have been recorded till date in the state.

Gurmeet said: “We have been successful in controlling the spread of the vector-borne diseases. But our real test will begin in the coming weeks. We need people’s participation in the effort to control these diseases.”

No case of swine flu 

During the same period last year, there were 26 swine flu cases with five deaths. But this year, not even a single case has been reported so far.

Dr Gurmeet, district epidemiologist, said: “We are relieved that no case of swine flu has been reported so far. There were three suspected cases, but they tested negative for the disease.” — TNS  

100 dengue cases

• Dengue seems to have returned this year as Patiala has recorded around 100 cases this year, which was 65 last year. Out of the total 300 cases reported in the state, Patiala has the highest dengue cases so far. 
• Dr Gurmeet, district epidemiologist, said: “The number of dengue cases has increased as compared to last year. The spread would have been much larger if the department had not focused on source reduction this year. The rise is because of the continuous rain.”