GUWAHATI, Oct 21 - The dengue situation in Kamrup Metro district has reached alarming proportions, with the number of positive cases detected till date touching 2,648.
The total dengue cases this year in the State stands at 2,911.
Three deaths have been reported so far, two of them in Kamrup Metro district.
In Kamrup Metro, Kahilipara, Lalganesh, Udalbakra, Ulubari, Noonmati, Aathgaon are the worst-hit areas in the city. The Health department has divided the city into four dengue hot-spots. Among the four, the South Zone, comprising the areas of Lalganesh, Odalbakra, Kalapahar, Fatasil Ambari, Bhaskarnagar, Barsapara and Dhirenpara, has alone reported 406 cases.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the health and municipal authorities are facing a shortage of chemicals (malathion) used for fogging purposes. Orders have been placed and one consignment of the chemical (1,500 litres) is likely to reach the State from Kolkata in a day or two, officials said.
Assam witnessed a record 4,526 cases of dengue in 2013, which had shaken the State health authorities. However, the number of reported cases was 85 in 2014 and 1,076 in 2015.
Though dengue cases are reported after the rainy season, this year incidences were unexpectedly reported from the month of July itself when temperatures were favourable for proliferation of the Aedes mosquito. Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) are reported mainly in the rainy season.
Health officials had said that the cases would decline after mid-September, but there seems to be no respite so far.
However, NHM officials said they expect that the cases would come down in the next eight to ten days. Officials of the GMC, Health department and district administration are carrying out awareness campaigns in various localities, besides drives for source reduction.
