GUWAHATI, June 6 � The annoying bites of mosquitoes that we so often tend to ignore have accounted for over nearly 500 deaths in the last four years in Assam.
Significantly, it is Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and not malaria that has caused 60 per cent of the total mosquito-bite-related deaths in the State. Dengue, too, is slowly but surely emerging as another area of health hazard.
A latest record compiled under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) of the State health department has shown that although malaria mortality rate has shown a dip in the State, deaths owing to JE have witnessed over 100 per cent increase.
While malaria deaths had come down to just 11 in 2012 compared to 42 reported in 2009, JE had caused 116 deaths in 2012 compared to 45 in 2009.
In case of dengue, although a number of persons were tested positive last year, official sources put the total dengue deaths at five. Interestingly, a dengue positive case was detected last month in the State.
