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Authorities say infections from monsoon rains have led to a fever outbreak in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, killing at least 114 people in the past three weeks
LUCKNOW, India – Infections from the monsoon rains have triggered a fever outbreak in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, killing at least 114 people in the past three weeks, have health officials announced Wednesday.
State Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh told The Associated Press most cases were caused by dengue, a seasonal viral infection spread by mosquitoes, followed by leptospirosis, brush typhus and malaria.
Leptospirosis and brush typhus are bacterial infections, while malaria is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes and caused by a parasite. They usually increase after the rainy season in India.
Singh said the dengue cases were due to a virulent strain called “D2”, which was detected in some districts of the state in a sample investigation by a team from the Indian Council of Medical Research.
“This is a different strain from the regular strain of dengue and you have to be careful,” he said.
Dengue fever, also called “febrile fever” for the severe pain it causes, is not always fatal, but severe cases may require hospitalization. This can lead to internal bleeding, enlarged liver, circulatory arrest, and death.
Prevention efforts to destroy mosquito breeding sites, such as disposing of garbage or old tires and other items containing standing water, are still the best ways to curb the spread of the disease, experts say. of health.
Utkarsh Singh, a senior health official in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, said the district’s main hospital had registered more than 1,200 fever cases linked to the outbreak since August 30, prompting authorities to use hospital facilities reserved for COVID-19 cases. He said the patients, mostly children, suffered from a high body temperature and chills.
“We don’t have enough beds to keep them. We are forced to accommodate three to four children on one bed, ”Singh said.
The health care system in Lucknow, the state capital, is also collapsing, as an increase in the number of cases has put pressure on hospitals.
The city has so far reported more than 1,500 fever cases linked to the outbreak after authorities began door-to-door surveillance last week.
“The viral fever has spread like wildfire across the state,” said Mehtab Alam of the Raza Husain Memorial Charitable Society, a nonprofit health care organization.
Authorities are scrambling resources to control the epidemic.
Ved Vrat Singh, the state’s top health official, said makeshift clinics equipped with malaria kits were being set up in villages where people had been reported sick. He said mosquito control vehicles are also being deployed to fumigate areas at risk and people have been advised not to allow water to stagnate.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, often figures disproportionately among post-monsoon infection deaths in the country due to weak health care system.
Thousands of people suffer from dengue fever, encephalitis, malaria, typhoid and other mosquito-borne illnesses every year during the summer monsoon.
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