The recent outbreak of dengue in the State became yet another issue over which the leadership of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress locked horns over the weekend after West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Pradip Bhattacharya alleged that the State government is “suppressing facts” in connection with the epidemic – an allegation that was dismissed.

Although the State government maintains that dengue has claimed three lives and infected 638 persons (until September 1) this season, unofficial reports claim that the figures are much higher.

The Sri Lankan government plans to set up a center to conduct research on dengue which is spreading fast in the country.

A total of 157 cases of dengue virus have been reported in Sindh, of which 156 cases were reported in Karachi while one from Hyderabad.

Dengue claimed another life on Tuesday amid a dissection of the outbreak that revealed how the administration first ignored preventive pre-monsoon protocols and then warning signs of a vector explo

The garbage crisis, which the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) claimed to have mitigated in the last 24 hours, is likely to worsen with residents of Mandur deciding on a blockade on Monday.

Agitated by the amount of garbage being dumped at the landfill off Bangalore-Hoskote Road near Begur Cross, residents of the Mandur Gram Panchayat have decided to block the entry of all the BBMP trucks to the dumping yard.

Hospitals in the district have seen a sharp rise in the number of patients getting admitted with symptoms of dengue in recent days.

People in the thousands, especially children, are showing symptoms of dengue like high fever, cough, fatigue and body pain. Sixty five of the total 149 suspected dengue cases have tested positive and all the patients are undergoing treatment. Patients, coming in hordes from Bellary, Koppal districts and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, are being made to lie on the ground at the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in the city.

The prevalence of dengue is more in Delhi compared to any other part of the country.

With the city recording nine cases of dengue, over a hundred cases of malaria and several of cholera this season, the deficient rain seems to be offering no solace to the health department which is now gearing up to take the full onslaught of vector and water-borne diseases that plague Delhi during the season.

“The scanty rainfall that the city received coupled with the high humidity levels have resulted in hospitals getting a number of patients with high fever, infections, complications arising out of water contamination and respiratory diseases. Cases of malaria, cholera and gastroenteritis are on the rise, we have also started seeing cases of jaundice,” said Delhi Health Minister A. K. Walia.

Plans state-of-the-art lab costing Rs 50 lakh to test suspected cases

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will reach out to 20 lakh people in the next 10 days as part of its dengue awareness drive. It will also set up a laboratory on the lines of National Institute of Virology at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. Three ‘rapid test/cross test’ units will also be set up in the City. Replying to allegations by the Opposition parties that the Palike had failed to contain the spread of dengue, at the monthly Council meeting on Tuesday, BBMP Commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda admitted to the lapse and said he did not expect the disease to spread so fast.