india

Updated: Oct 16, 2019 01:28 IST

The outbreak of dengue continues to be alarming in Patna with a Central team finding 19.25% houses in the city with larval index of aedes mosquito, making them susceptible to the disease, even as Union minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of an epidemic in Bihar.

Referred to as house index (HI), which is the percentage of houses infested with larvae and/or pupae, a figure of more than 10% sets alarm bells ringing and calls for immediate attention in case of any vector-borne disease, said an expert of the Central team.

The team is in Patna to assist the state in fighting dengue after a fortnight’s waterlogging in some localities of Patna led to a spike in dengue cases this month.

The team also found 43% Breteau index (BI), which is the number of positive containers per 100 houses inspected for larva. A BI of more than 50% qualifies as an epidemic, in epidemiological terminology, said the expert.

Among a few localities vulnerable to dengue were the Kanti Factory Road (HI 40% & BI 54% on October 5), Patliputra Colony (HI 36% & BI 52 on October 7), Rajiv Nagar (HI 29.27% & BI 43.9% on October 8), Bazar Samiti (30.76% & BI 30.76% on October 10), Rajendra Nagar road number 5 (HI 21.15% & BI 30.77% on October 13) and Saidpur (HI 21.57% & BI 33.33%), revealed the findings of the Central team.

“The BI had peaked to 42% on October 12 but has now come down to 32.37% on Tuesday. Every sixth person would be infected if the BI touches 50. However, cases of dengue will come down gradually with the onset of winter,” said Pradeep Das, team leader and director of the Rajendra Memorial Institute of Medical Sciences (RMIMS), Agamkuan.

Earlier, speaking to the media, Choubey allayed fears of a dengue epidemic in Bihar. He said the Central team was able to help the state check the dengue menace in time.

Even as the minister exuded confidence of succeeding in tackling dengue, two BJP legislators from Patna — Nitin Navin and Sanjiv Chaurasia — were believed to have been afflicted by dengue. While both the legislators could not be reached for comments, Mantu Singh, an aide of Navin said the MLA had tested positive for dengue even as his platelet count was 1.70 lakh.

Eight teams from the Centre are in Patna and another four in Bhagalpur, and would continue to extend help in these areas till October 18, said Choubey. While the AIIMS-Patna was operating 11 health camps, the RMIMS was running six health camps and the Central Government Health Scheme three.

The Central team also began its entomological surveillance in Patna on October 5, after heavy rains between September 27 and 29 led to severe waterlogging in many localities of the state capital.

Meanwhile, the state reported 166 fresh cases of dengue on Tuesday of which 137 were from Patna, taking the overall tally of dengue cases reported in the state so far this year to 1923, according to the bulletin released by the state health department. One hundred fifty eight cases of Chikungunya were also reported in the state so far this year of which 140 were from Patna.