Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: With 95 fresh cases of dengue being reported in Barbil area of Keonjhar district alone, the total number of cases in the district jumped to 162 on Tuesday, setting alarm bells ringing in the State Health department.
Official sources said the highest number of 67 people had tested positive for the vector borne disease in the mineral belt of the district till yesterday, but no death has been reported so far.
Meanwhile, the number of affected cases in Cuttack has touched 24 from five in the past 12 hours.
Officials at the SCB Medical College and Hospital said the number of beds for dengue patients will be increased, if the situation demands.
“SCB is ready to tackle the situation. We are ready with a 30-bed special ward for the affected people. But we will increase the number of beds if the number of inpatients rises,” said SCB Emergency Officer Bhubanananda Maharana.
“As of now, we have 12 inpatients of which six are in the special dengue ward, two in medicine ICU and four in general ward. All the patients are stable,” he stated.
SCB sources said the Micro Biology department of the institution examined 43 blood samples on Tuesday of which 15 tested positive. Out of 1060 blood samples tested this year, 129 have tested positive so far, the sources added.
Reviewing the situation on Monday, Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said special dengue wards have been opened at Barbil Community Health Centre and SCB Medical College while health experts from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur have been rushed to the affected areas to treat dengue patients.
Additional district medical officer (ADMO), Keonjhar, S S Bal said the situation is “under control”.