Dengue spreading tentacles in Twin City; Cuttack residents turning to papaya leaves for relief!

The dengue menace has hit the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar hard. While 2,000 positive cases have been detected in the Capital City, Millennium City has reported around 100 cases so far.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday started a dengue audit of every household in the city to check breeding sources of Aedes mosquitoes amid a surge in dengue cases. More than 10 teams have been constituted for the audit.

As per reports, dengue has been spreading its tentacles fast in Bhubaneswar. According to a BMC report, while 103 dengue-positive cases were found in Bhubaneswar in June, the number of cases surged to 541 in July. The positive cases have reached 701 till August 14. The number of cases has surged more than five times in July in comparison to June. Moreover, it is on an upward curve in August as well. 

As part of the dengue audit, BMC has started an awareness drive to prevent dengue mosquito breeding. BMC officials and health workers are conducting door-to-door visits in most-affected areas like Satya Nagar and Saheed Nagar. 

However, several residents in the city have expressed their resentment alleging the lackadaisical attitude of the BMC in curbing the dengue menace in the city.

“BMC has completely failed to maintain cleanliness in the city and as a result, dengue mosquitoes are breeding in large numbers,” said a resident of Bhubaneswar.

Meanwhile, long queues are being witnessed at the Capital Hospital for dengue tests.

“We have been waiting in long queues for the last four hours for the test. I think proper arrangement should have been made for the purpose,” said a local resident.

Capital Hospital Director Dr Laxmidhar Sahu assured that things will be normal within the next couple of weeks. “As people are coming together in large numbers for dengue testing over the last few days, there has been a huge rush. Things will be fully streamlined within the next 10-15 days. There is nothing to panic. We are fully prepared to provide treatment to dengue patients. A sufficient number of beds is ready and medicines are available at the hospital for the treatment of the patients,” said Sahu.

“Dengue-affected patients should consult the doctor before complications develop. Then we could check the number of deaths effectively,” said AIIMS Bhubaneswar Director, Dr Asutosh Biswas.

On the other hand, it is reported that dengue-affected patients in Cuttack are mostly relying on home remedies. As there is a drop in platelet count in the case of dengue patients, they are reportedly using papaya leaves for treatment. 

“Dengue is severely affecting people in Cuttack. People have the notion that by consuming the juice of papaya leaves; platelet count remains stable. Hence, most of the people are taking the juice of papaya leaves,” said a city resident.

However, some health experts have refuted the fact that dengue can be treated using papaya leaves.

“There are no studies in medical science so far to prove that the juice of papaya leaves will increase platelets in the human body. It is only an observational therapy as per Ayurveda and herbal discipline,” said health expert, Dr. Jayant Panda.

Meanwhile, as per some ayurvedic experts, consumption of the juice of papaya leaves can cure dengue.

“Dengue patients can be cured by taking 60 ml of papaya leaf juice for three to seven days. We have experimented it successfully on thousands of patients,” said Ayurvedic doctor, Dinabandhu Moharana.