Journalism of Courage
With the monsoon only a couple of days away, officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s health department have identified 89,896 mosquito breeding spots in the city. They have also warned doctors against failure to notify dengue cases. “Dengue is a notifiable disease… we will not hesitate to issue a notice to a doctor if he or she does not report a case,” Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant medical officer, PMC, told The Indian Express.
Health authorities in Maharashtra have already detected 452 cases of dengue and 114 cases of chikungunya. In Pune, of the 199 suspected cases of dengue, 28 have tested positive for the disease, said PMC health authorities. The city has reported 13 confirmed cases of chikungunya.
State health authorities said as compared to last year, when 325 cases of dengue were detected between January and May, this year, 452 cases of dengue have been reported in the same period.
Joint Director of Health, Maharashtra, Dr M S Diggikar, said advisories pertaining to the disease have also been sent to health officers of municipal corporations and district administrations.
Kolhapur, Pune and Nashik circles have reported the highest number of dengue cases between January and May this year.
In Pune circle, which includes Pune, Solapur and Satara, 84 dengue cases have been reported, while Kolhapur circle has 104 cases and Nashik circle has reported 74 dengue cases. “We are also keeping a watch for cases of Japanese Encephalitis. So far, there are two cases, one each in Thane and Aurangabad. Last year, there were 29 cases of JE with 10 in Jalna, three each in Pune, Solapur, Raigad and Osmanabad, and remaining cases in other districts,” said Diggikar.
