Bengaluru Dengue Outbreak: BJP MP Calls on Congress Government to Declare "State Medical Emergency"

Dengue fever cases are increasing significantly in many parts of the state. This has caused great anxiety among the people. An 11-year-old boy Gagan of Anjanapura in Southern Bengaluru has succumbed to dengue fever in Bengaluru after 6 children succumbed to dengue fever in Hassan. Along with this, the deadly Zika virus has also appeared which has made people more worried. It is said that Gagan died in a private hospital late on Friday night. The boy Gagan was studying at Chaitanya Tech's school when he felt abdominal pain on Thursday and was sent home. He was suffering from dengue fever. He was taken to a clinic in Kothanur and referred to a private hospital around 1 pm where he was put on a ventilator.

The parents of the dead boy complained that proper cleanliness was not maintained in the school. Thus, there is a possibility of disease spreading, so against the school management now the parents are outraged. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that seeing the dengue symptoms, the 11-year-old boy’s death was considered a suspected dengue death. His reports have been sent for an audit and results are expected on July 8th. If the report confirms that it’s a dengue death then this will bring the number of dengue deaths in the city to two and in Karnataka to seven. It is pertinent to mention that a week ago, BBMP’s audit confirmed that a 27-year-old man from Byrasandra died due to dengue. Also, the dengue epidemic is raging in Hassan district. Four children have died of dengue fever within a week in the district. Three children have died in the district hospital.

Bangalore Rural BJP MP, Cardiologist C.N. Manjunath advised the government to provide free treatment to dengue patients on the model of COVID-19. He urged the Congress government to declare dengue a “State Medical Emergency” as it is prevalent in Karnataka and called for maintaining cleanliness is important to fight infectious diseases. He said that Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, and even third-world countries have introduced Dengue vaccines. It's time for India now and I will take this up with the Union Government, he added.

Talking to media in the city, he said that there are patients admitted to the hospital with dengue fever and they should get free treatment on the Covid model. Dengue fever control means mosquito control. The MP blamed incomplete infrastructure for the failure to control mosquitoes. Roads are badly damaged where rainwater gets collected and create mosquitoes, he added. He said that dengue is also carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is known to bite during day time.According to the Health Department, the state government and private health clinics and hospitals reported over 1.17 lakh suspected cases of Dengue as of July 6th. Of these collected blood samples of 54k patients, 7006 tested positive for dengue.