About 600 dengue cases were reported from Kolkata last week and the numbers have been similar for the last few weeks, a senior official of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said on Friday.
The situation could worsen in the coming weeks, which are going to be very crucial, the official said. “No slowdown in the pace of fresh dengue infections is expected until November,” he said.
The current pattern of rain — short spells followed by long dry spells — and high humidity create perfect conditions for the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the transmitter of the dengue virus, said an entomologist.
A state health department official said 607 new dengue cases were reported from across West Bengal on Thursday.
According to him, 4,678 cases were detected in the state in the last week — which means on average 668 cases a day.
Altogether, he said, 701 dengue patients were under treatment at various government hospitals in the state on Thursday. “Kolkata recorded about 600 new dengue infections last week. That has been the case for the last few weeks. We anticipate an increase in infection numbers in the coming weeks as a lot of people came together during Durga Puja,” said a senior official of the KMC’s health department.
“The next few weeks are going to be crucial. It is still raining in spells, though the intensity is less than what we witness when the monsoon is at its peak. We have to be careful for at least another two months. The infection numbers will start falling after November,” the official said.
The civic body feels an aware population can act on their own and take measures to prevent the formation of mosquito breeding sites. The KMC has set up kiosks from where dengue awareness messages are being relayed.
Leaflets with instructions on what to do to prevent dengue are being distributed from the kiosks.
“The kiosks, one each in the 144 wards of the Kolkata municipal area, will function till the last week of October,” said the official.
Several people have died of dengue in the city this year. An official of India Meteorological Department said that though October 10 is the usual date of departure of the monsoon winds from West Bengal, rain might continue for afew weeks after that date. Also, it is still not clear whether the monsoon will retreat from the state by the scheduled date.
Amlan Das, an associate professor of zoology at Calcutta University, said “the current weather pattern of sporadic rain, high temperature and humidity” is ideal for the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes.
“These mosquitoes can breed even in a spoonful of water,” he said. The website of the World Health Organization says: “The virus is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female mosquitoes.”