With two children succumbing to dengue, the death toll from the mosquito-borne virus has risen to six in Uttar Pradesh.
'A six-year-old child from Sitapur district died of the disease in the paediatric ward of King George's Medical University on Friday, while another child died in the Farrukhabad district hospital,' V.S. Nigam, health department spokesman told IANS here Saturday.'The total number of dengue cases has shot up to 199 in the state with the detection of 40 new cases since Friday.' Certain western districts, bordering Delhi, were stated to be the worst hit.
Maximum number of cases were reported from the New Okhla Industrial Development Area bordering Delhi with 44, followed by Lucknow -37, Ghaziabad -29 and Muzaffarnagar -20.
Meanwhile, taking suo moto cognisance of the spread of the disease, the Allahabad High Court directed the state administration to submit a detailed report on the state of dengue by Oct 22.
'The court has also asked us to issue directives to all district magistrates, municipalities as well as panchayati raj (village council) institutions to ensure all preventive and curative measures are in place across the state,' principal health secretary Arun Kumar Misra said.
Carried by the aedes mosquito, the dengue virus has typical symptoms of high fever accompanied with acute pain in the joints and eyes. 'It is certainly not as deadly or fatal like Japanese Encephalitis, but still it is a matter of serious concern for us' said Misra, adding, 'we have ordered spraying of insecticides in all mosquito-prone areas and hope to contain the virus soon.'
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