First case of dengue this season: Mauli Jagran boy

Also, blood samples of the boy’s family members were collected and his house and neighbourhood were disinfected with sprays and repellants.

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The rainy season, continuing from July to August, is the breeding season of mosquitoes causing dengue and malaria.

Usually, cases start trickling in at the city hospitals in the two months of September to October.

However, this year 18 malaria cases and now this dengue case have already been reported in the city. Among these, the maximum number of cases are from slum areas.

Last year, a total of 13 dengue cases and 109 malaria cases were reported in the city. In the last five years, the maximum number of dengue cases (351) were reported in 2012, and the maximum number of malaria cases (446) in the last five years were recorded in 2011.

Dengue fever is a severe viral disease, transmitted by the infective bite of aedes aegypti mosquito. The mosquitoes are identified by the black and white stripes on their bodies. The peak biting hours are dusk and dawn.

A person develops disease after five-six days of being bitten by an infective mosquito. It can occur in two forms: dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever (more severe form that may cause death).