Over 6,100 dengue cases, eight deaths reported in T.N. so far

At present there are 598 active cases, says Minister; medical camps will be conducted across the State every Saturday till the end of December; mobile screening units too deployed

The number of dengue cases has crossed 6,000 in Tamil Nadu this year.

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Saturday that the State reported 6,169 cases of dengue and eight deaths till November 3, 2023. Presently, there are 598 active cases of dengue, he told reporters shortly after inspecting a special medical camp in Chennai. On Friday alone, 60 cases of dengue were reported.

According to the data on the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control’s website, the State reported 6,430 cases of dengue and eight deaths in 2022. In 2021, there were 6,039 cases and eight deaths.

The viral infection, transmitted through mosquitoes, causes high fever and severe body pain. The Minister mentioned that from January 1 to till date, 3,13,648 tests were conducted for dengue in the State. A total of 26,721 persons are involved in dengue control work in the State.

On Saturday, 1,000 medical camps were held across the State in connection with the monsoon. The camps would be held every Saturday till the end of December. The Minister added that 476 mobile medical units were involved, while 805 Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram teams were conducting fever screening camps in schools as well.

In the wake of Zika virus being identified in mosquito samples in Karnataka, the Minister said that the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine had tested 64 mosquito samples and none of them tested positive for the virus. Fever, headache, body ache and rashes are the symptoms of the infection spread by Aedes mosquito.

T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said, “We collect mosquito samples / pools routinely for surveillance purposes. Of this, 64 mosquito pools of Aedes mosquitoes were tested for the presence of Zika virus, and all 64 pools turned out to be negative.”