NEW DELHI:
With the second wave of COVID-19 still wreaking havoc in India, increasing dengue fever infections have posed a new health threat to the country's population.
Following COVID-19, India's Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan spoke about the "growing issue of serotype-II (strain) dengue" in 11 states at a meeting last week, which was attended by representatives from the WHO.
During the course of this year, India had an unprecedented increase of COVID-19 cases, with daily numbers and statistics sometimes exceeding 400,000.
Now, the dengue virus outbreak is posing a new challenge to the country's healthcare system, with the northern state of Uttar Pradesh emerging as the most severely impacted region.
The epidemic in the state has already claimed the lives of scores of people, prompting officials to take extra precautions against the disease.
Dengue fever is a viral illness that is spread via the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is infected with the virus. Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever are the two types of the disease (DHF).
'Our district has recorded the highest number of cases in the whole state,' Dinesh Kumar Premi, the district's top medical officer, told Anadolu Agency in a telephone interview.
Premi said that 62 individuals had died as a result of high fever and that five people have died as a result of dengue.
He said that a number of measures are being implemented to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.
According to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program of India, 39,419 cases of dengue fever were recorded in 2020, with 56 deaths as a result of the infection.
According to official data, more than 14,000 instances have been recorded in the nation up until July of this year alone.
Paying less attention
Doctor P.V. M. Lakshmi, professor of epidemiology at the school of public health at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in northern India, told Anadolu Agency that the pandemic had eclipsed the vector-borne illnesses at the time of its occurrence.
"Many people have forgotten about vector-borne illnesses as a result of the excessive focus on COVID-19. Prior to the epidemic, individuals who had fever were routinely checked for dengue fever "Lakshmi expressed herself.
She said that no one is paying attention to other prevalent diseases that existed before the pandemic, which she believes is correct.
"This was the primary cause for the mislabeling of dengue as "mysterious fever," which is very certainly is not. Dengue was present prior to COVID-19 and will continue to exist as long as the Aedes mosquito is there "" she said.
Many areas, particularly in northern Uttar Pradesh state, have seen instances of high fever, which has been dubbed "mystery fever." Because the illness has not been identified, doctors believe that the lethal fever is caused by dengue or scrub typhus, which is both contagious.
Regarding the dengue epidemic, Lakshmi said that it occurs in a cyclical fashion every two to three years, with the most recent outbreak occurring in 2014.
"We should not ignore tropical illnesses and should devote the same amount of attention to all tropical fevers as we did before the pandemic," she added, adding that normal vector control methods should be implemented.
ICMR's Dr. Lalit Kant, former Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, told Anadolu Agency that the dengue epidemic would place an additional strain on the country's healthcare system.
According to him, the load on the healthcare system would grow as a result of the fact that the methods of controlling the two diseases (COVID-19 and dengue) are different.
"All of our efforts up to this point have been focused on investigating COVID-19. It may take some time for the system to be modified to cope with a new scenario "Kant was alluding to the dengue epidemic when he stated this.
He said that early diagnosis may help to reduce the level of fear among the public.
"The administration should reassure the public that we will be able to take care of the situation if necessary... There will be no fear if it is identified early and at the right time," he added, alluding to the worry caused by "mystery fever" when it is discovered late "Dengue fever is believed to be the source of the problem.
Not only have dengue cases been detected, but also instances of the fatal Nipah virus have been reported in Kerala's southern state, which is trying to control the COVID-19 outbreak.
When asked what measures states could take to avoid the spread of illnesses, Health Secretary Bhushan said that early identification of cases, sufficient supply of testing kits, fever surveying, contact tracing, and vector control were among the recommendations made during a conference held on Saturday.
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