West Bengal: Dengue cases on the rise, 7,000 infections in last one week

“The situation is alarming. More than 3,000 people have been admitted to government hospitals in the last one week. Deaths are increasing as many of them are critical,” said a health official.

In the last 72 hours, three deaths were reported  due to the disease — two from Kolkata and one from nearby Bidhannagar. The deceased were Sayan Ghosh Chowdhury (25) and Sukanya Majumder (26), both residents of Kolkata, and Rahul Saha (22) of Bidhannagar.

Doctors say the death rate among young people due to the disease is also high this year and those getting infected by dengue for the second time are at a serious risk.

The family of Sukanya, one of the deceased, said that she was infected with dengue in 2016 and 2017 as well. Experts are of the opinion that if someone has been infected with dengue-1 a few years back, the immunity they have developed will not be useful if they are exposed to another strain. It instead can trigger “hyper-immune reaction”, they say.

Officials said dengue testing has been increased and positivity rate has declined slightly.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation said it was carrying a drive against dengue on regular basis. Source-reduction drive is also being carried out in all vulnerable areas, officials said.