Steps to fight dengue

TT, Siliguri, Oct. 24: Minister Gautam Deb today said Siliguri Municipal Corporation would take steps to kill mosquitoes and start a fever survey as part of efforts to contain dengue which was suspected to have affected at least 11 people in town.

The north Bengal development minister held a meeting with health and SMC officials in his office here this morning to take stock of the situation after suspected cases of dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, had been reported in Siliguri.

Seven persons from two families and four others, all from Khalpara in Siliguri, have been afflicted with symptoms of dengue. While the seven are under medication at home, four have been admitted to nursing homes.

Deb said SMC would augment its infrastructure to arrest the spread of the disease. “The SMC has five fogging machines and will buy two more soon. The civic body will also purchase additional 25 sprayers (used to spray mosquito larvicide oil). It has 25 sprayers as of now. The fogging machines and sprayers will be pressed into service to kill mosquitoes and their larvae. SMC workers have already started sprinkling bleaching powder in all wards,” said Deb.

The minister didn’t say if any patient was suffering from symptoms of dengue — fever and body ache — in Siliguri at present. He said “there is no dengue-outbreak and no reason to panic”.

“Between January and October, 162 suspected dengue cases were reported in and around Siliguri. All these patients’ blood was examined and only 34 of them have been tested positive. Of the 34 patients, 18 were found afflicted with dengue last month,” he said.

Deb said his department would grant Rs 4 lakh to the SMC to carry out a door-to-door fever survey in 10 wards. “Civic workers will conduct the survey in the wards where suspected dengue cases have been reported. This would help us know the exact situation,” he added. He said chief medical officers of health of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling would meet private nursing home owners on Sunday to ensure better treatment for suspected dengue patients.