Bhubaneswar: After the dengue outbreak in the state capital ringed alarm, the health department has opened a special centre for dengue testing at Capital Hospital. Also, dengue testing counters will start operating at two more places in Bhubaneswar from Monday.
Public Health Director, Dr. Niranjan Mishra said, “Now dengue situation is at the plateau stage. And, after the patients faced difficulties for blood sample testing, a special dengue testing counter has been operationalised at Capital Hospital.”
“Around, 60 to 70 new cases are being detected every day since the intensive testing in Bhubaneswar, he added.
In addition, the hospital authorities have also extended the testing time for two more hours. Previously, samples from people were collected from 9 am to 4 pm, but now the samples will be collected from 8 am to 5 pm.
Apart from this, dengue testing centres will be opened at Patia CHC and IRC Village UPCH from Monday to reduce crowding in Capital Hospital. Machines have already been installed for this purpose, Dr Mishra stated.
Meanwhile, Capital Hospital has opened special dengue wards in 4 CHCs of the capital to accommodate more patients.
As of August 25, the number of dengue patients in the state reached 2,943. Out of them, 1, 369 people were detected with dengue positive from Khurda district alone. After that 308 dengue-positive patients were detected from Puri, while 276 patients from Balasore, 208 from Cuttack, 169 from Jagatsinghpur and 103 from Nayagada.
Director of Public Health, Dr. Mishra said, “Because testing has doubled in the state, more positive cases have come out compared to last year. Last year, the rate of test positivity was 9, while this year it is only 6. Even so, the number of dengue patients taken critically ill is more than 5 per cent.”
Further clarifying that people have a misconception regarding platelet count, Dr Mishra said, “People think that there is a need for hospitalisation when the platelet count drops, which is wrong. Even if his platelet count drops to 20,000, there is no need for a platelet transfusion.”
