Dengue and scrub typhus cases on the rise in Khotang

Cases of dengue and scrub typhus are on the rise in Khotang district, according to the District Health Office (DHO), Khotang. 

Altogether 12 dengue cases and 14 scrub typhus cases were detected in the district in the month of Shrawan alone. 

According to Jivan Prasad Chaulagain, Chief of the DHO, two patients infected with each- of dengue and scrub typhus- were referred to Kathmandu for further treatment. The health condition of the infected ones is gradually improving, he said.

The district having 10 local levels is witnessing an increasing number of mosquito-borne infection and bacterial infection in the recent days with six men and six women infected with dengue and nine men and five women down with scrub typhus. 

While some patients returned home upon recovery, some are still undergoing treatment in the District Hospital, said Dr Rupesh Sangraula, Chief of the District Hospital in Khotang. 

According to him, cases of dengue and scrub typhus are common in the monsoon season. He, however, expressed concern that the Hospital lacks facilities to treat severe cases. 

There is also a surge of patients with ailments other than dengue and scrub typhus in the District Hospital, informed Dr Sangraula, adding that around 150-200 patients visit the Hospital on a daily basis.

“We are facing problems in rendering services to the patients in lack of necessary equipment and adequate beds," added Sangraula. 

In view of rising cases of dengue and scrub typhus in the district, an all-party meeting convened in Diktel on Sunday decided to launch a 'Larvae Search and Destroy' campaign in all 10 local levels. As a preventive measure, the infection-bearing mosquito larvae will be searched and perished.