Rising fever cases spark concern in Jewar, Dankaur

Noida: The number of dengue cases has reached 140 in Noida, the highest in six years. Rural areas of Dankaur and Jewar have also being seeing a recent surge in fever cases.
Officials in the health department said they were forming a team to investigate a rising number of cases in Nevada village of Dankaur and four other villages in Jewar. Anti-larvae drives are being conducted in these areas.“We have received reports about the high number of fever cases in these areas. We are sending a team to investigate if these are dengue cases and if they are, what is their source,” said Sunil Sharma, the chief medical officer.
On Tuesday, Noida recorded 24 fresh cases of dengue. Officials pointed out that dengue had a cyclic trend, in which cases increased every 4-5 years Although the recorded data of cases was 140 on Tuesday, reports from private hospitals suggest that the actual number of dengue patients could be more. Nearly all general beds in private hospitals are occupied with dengue patients.
Several private hospitals said while they could send positive reports of the tests to the health department, the logistics of sending the samples were difficult. While most hospitals have been sending reports, samples are not being sent for retesting. However, officials from private hospitals agreed that the daily requirement of platelet and plasma had increased substantially.
Government facilities are also seeing a rising number of cases. “We do get about 5-6 dengue patients on a daily basis. We are reporting them as well. There are also a high number of fever patients,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, director of Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida.
Meanwhile, the district has also reported four cases of scrub typhus and three of leptospirosis. As cases continue to rise, Noida has had one more state-approved lab at the District Hospital in Sector 30 so far. “Last week, the lab at Child PGI was approved by the state for dengue testing. However, we cannot account for any other test by any labs. They need to send the samples to these two facilities for testing,” said Sharma.