Dengue cases rise in Bihar

PATNA - Three people have died of dengue in Bihar and over 60 patients from various parts of the state have been admitted to Patna hospitals in the last three days. People say the government has sounded an alert, but taken little action so far.

Residents of Munger, where two deaths took place, and Begusarai districts, where the third dengue death occurred, are complaining of official apathy.

“The district administration, particularly health officials and the municipal body, has failed to check the spread of dengue,” said Satish Singh, the relative of a dengue patient from Munger who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Patna.

Amit Kumar, a resident of Begusarai that reported the first dengue death in Bihar two weeks ago, said people in urban as well as rural pockets were frightened.

“There is a strong fear that dengue kills people, it is giving people sleepless nights,” Kumar said.

Unconfirmed reports say there have been six dengue deaths in Bihar.

Patna residents too are complaining.

“Time is running out for the government to initiate preventable measures or dengue will prove a curse soon for the state,” said Ranjeet Yadav, a businessman in Patna.

Shakil Ahmad, a government employee, said: “It is alarming that dengue cases have been reported from different places. But the government is yet to begin fogging in Patna, not to talk of district headquarters or rural areas.”

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed officials to take steps to check the spread of dengue. He also ordered appropriate measures for treating patients who tested positive for the disease.

Sources in health department here said medical experts were also being taken to places where several patients have tested positive for dengue.