Dengue seems to have struck the city with the onset of monsoon. Since June 1, St Philomena Hospital has registered 121 dengue cases, the state-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital has registered 25 cases in the last one week, and other hospitals too are reporting five to six suspected cases every day.
Dr Shankar Prasad, medical superintendent, St Philomena Hospital, said: “There has been a rise in the number of dengue cases. Our laboratory tests show that we have had 121 positive cases since June 1. We have sent the blood samples to the National Institute of Virology at Victoria Hospital. Most of the cases are from Austin Town, Ejipura and Viveknagar."
Eight cases of dengue were reported from Baptist Hospital over the last one week. Of them, five are children and three adults, said hospital Deputy Director Dr Naveen Thomas. Dr Rajanna, resident medical officer, Bowring Hospital, said, “In last one week we have had 25 dengue cases. We get five or six suspected dengue cases and also other viral infection cases coming from D.J. Halli, Tannery Road, Kavalbyarasandra, Kadugondanahalli and Nagavara.”
It’s strange then that the number of dengue cases registered with the BBMP seems much smaller. Dr Lokesh, project director, dengue and chickungunya control, BBMP, said: “Since January 2012 we have registered 45 dengue and three chikungunya cases. Hospitals should inform us once they get these cases so that we can take measures.”