TNN | Aug 30, 2013, 12.37 AM IST
GUWAHATI: One person died of suspected dengue at a private hospital on Thursday, taking the death toll to three in the last three days. The deceased, identified as RajuDewan (55), was a resident of Zoo Road Tiniali area in the city. On Tuesday, his wife, LaniDewan, who was undergoing treatment in the same hospital, had also died of dengue.
Another person from Zoo Road Tiniali area, Kandarpa Deka, also suspected to be suffering from dengue, had died on the way to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday night.
Since all the dengue-related deaths are from Zoo Road Tiniali area, residents of the area on Thursday staged a protest against the government's inaction and burnt the effigy of health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. During the protest, the fuel tank of a motorcycle passing by caught fire, but police managed to douse the flames. No one was injured in the incident.
The Zoo Road Traders' Association demanded that the state government take immediate steps to control the disease. They also criticized the health department and the municipal corporation for their failure to contain the disease. About 20 cases of dengue were detected in the Kamrup (Metro) district in the last month, according to state health officials.
Last year, too, the residents of the district had to battle the disease. Around 734 dengue cases were detected and the disease claimed three lives last year.
District chief medical and health officer S K Sen said, "So far, 20 cases of dengue have been reported in the Kamrup (Metro) district and three persons have died of dengue. The cases have been detected in different localities of Guwahati like Noonmati, Narengi, Zoo Road Tiniali, Odalbakra and Maligaon. The infected people include adults and children. A majority of the patients got infected during visits to other states."
"We are also carrying out fogging in different parts of the city. We have 16 machines and around 32 workers, but, since the area is vast, we need of more resources," he added.
Dengue is caused from the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water. These mosquitoes also breed in clean water, so people should be taken to ensure that there is no stagnant water in and around their homes, Sen advised.
The medical officer also asked the people to take necessary precautions to protect themselves from mosquito bites and consult a doctor if they suffer from symptoms like high fever, headache, backache, muscle and joint pain and appearance of rash on the body and to avoid self-medication.
The health department has decided to set up four blood examination centres in different places of the city. Sen said, "The four blood examination centres will be at Dispur, Hatigaon, Pandu and Dhirenpara. People who has fever can get themselves tested at these centres. The samples collected will be sent to GMCH for testing."