Dengue stings harder; more patients in Pune require longer care
PUNE: A steep rise in dengue cases in the PMC areas has set alarm bells ringing in the health corridors, with questions being raised over civic preparedness and pre-monsoon measures.
PMC data showed that 472 dengue cases were recorded in August and another 204 cases in September so far. The caseload has gone up to 2,076 so far — 1,803 from private hospitals and 273 cases from government-run sentinel centres.
Narayan Peth resident Viraj Bhaskar Taware, who was diagnosed with dengue last month with his mother and one-and-a-half-year-old child, said, “My mother is yet to make full recovery... Civic staffers had found breeding spots of dengue larvae at the construction site of a redevelopment project in my area.”
Choked nullahs and poor upkeep have led to mosquito menace in the Hadapsar area too, especially in the housing societies behind Vaibhav Theatre. In one such affected-society, 80-year-old Balawant Ranade, an advocate, has been fighting against the unsanitary conditions for the last five years.
“We have to bear with the problem every monsoon. It worsens during the post-monsoon period in August and September,” Ranade, who stays in Samrat Garden Society behind Vaibhav theatre in Hadapsar, said. Barring a few swanky townships, there is complete disregard to garbage lifting and disposal in the Hadapsar area, he said.
Santosh More of Balaji Paradise housing society said, “We are doing our bit to keep our premises clean. But what about the unlifted garbage and rainwater stagnation outside the society areas.”
Family physician Pravin Darak, who practises in the Dhankawdi area, said, “Residents in the congested localities are increasingly getting detected with dengue. However, the illness is mild in most. I have only seen two cases of dengue shock syndrome, a severe type of dengue, which I eventually referred to the Bharati hospital for better care.”
Family physician Santaji Kadam, who practises in the Karvenagar area, also admitted of a sharp rise in dengue cases in the last 15 days, with most cases coming from Warje, Shivane and the surrounding fringe areas.
Experts said quite a few residents diagnosed with dengue were showing rapid downfall in platelet count reaching up to 10,000 per microlitre of blood.
A normal person has a platelet count between 1,50,000 and 4,50,000 per microlitre of blood. About 80-90% of patients with dengue have levels below 1,00,000, while 10-20% of patients see critically low levels of 20,000 or less, the experts said, adding that only about 5% of dengue patients face complications like bleeding, requiring platelet transfusions.
“Besides, 50% cases are showing dengue rashes, which was very uncommon till two years ago. Around two out of 10 cases are showing increased liver enzymes, causing signs of jaundice,” said senior family physician Avinash Bhondwe, who practises in the Shivajinagar area.
City hospitals are seeing a rise in patients requiring long-term care. “I treated 59 patients at Sahyadri hospital’s Hadapsar branch in the last two months. Of them, 20 required hospitalisation. One of them also succumbed to dengue-linked complications,” said critical care expert Kapil Borawake.
Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital’s chief intensivist Prasad Rajhans said, “There were two dengue-related casualties in our hospital. Most cases, however, are mild.”
Civic health officials have stepped up action on establishments, mainly housing societies and bungalows, not taking measures to check mosquito breeding. “We have also scaled up the use of larvicides and fumigation to destroy the breeding spots and check adult mosquitoes,” said Sanjeev Wavre, head of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s insect control department.
16th September, 2021
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