Dengue deaths highest in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu: National Health Profile report

New Delhi: According to the National Health Profile Report 2019, the highest number of dengue deaths in the past five years was reported from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The report, which analysed dengue cases and deaths between 2014 and 2018, saw the maximum number of deaths recorded in 2017, wherein Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu saw 65 dengue deaths.

However, West Bengal tops the list for the maximum number of dengue cases reported. In 2017 alone, West Bengal recorded 37,746 cases, which is the highest number of documented cases in the past five years, with 46 deaths.

The government data also specifies that Telangana saw 4,592 cases of dengue and two deaths, as per provisional data available for 2018. However, on-ground reports from the Telugu state speak a different story. Although a cumulative number of dengue cases for 2019 is not available, recent media reports say that Telangana recorded more than 10,000 dengue cases since June this year.

Five days back, on October 31, four people from a family died due to dengue in Telangana’s Mancherial town within 15 days. Taking note of the death of a district court judge from Khammam due to dengue on October 21, Telangana High Court had criticised the state government for its negligence in dealing with the dengue crisis. “Dengue doesn’t distinguish between a bureaucrat and a common man,” said the HC Chief Justice.

To make matters worse, the government refuses to acknowledge dengue deaths, making the official figures seem tame compared to on-ground reports. Despite deaths reported across Telangana, the state has been denying dengue outbreak.

As per the data reported under Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) during 2018, most number of dengue outbreaks were recorded in Maharashtra (36), followed by Kerala (13) and West Bengal (9). Telangana reported 3 outbreaks, while Andhra reported 1 for the year 2018.

The National Health Profile report also showed that the severity of dengue outbreaks has increased over the last two decades. The report also documents the general health profile in the whole country by using several parameters such as demographic, socio-economic, health status, health finance, human resources for health and health infrastructure.

Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) has been releasing its annual publication National Health Profile (NHP) regularly since 2005.

Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, is proven deadly. The symptoms of the vector-borne disease become visible within 14 days of exposure to the virus and include fever, joint pain, headaches and general fatigue.