Over 2,30,000 Dengue cases last year with 303 deaths
The union government is stepping up awareness among the people about dengue ahead of the Monsoon season. During the Monsoon season, maximum cases of Dengue are reported across the country.
“Dengue is caused by the bite of Aedes mosquito which breeds in clean water containers like water tank, cooler, flowerpots, tires etc. Take preventive steps and protect yourself and your family from Dengue during upcoming monsoon,” Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, union minister of state for health and family welfare posted on social media site Twitter.
India reports over 2 lakh Dengue cases every year and has been reporting more than 300 deaths due to Dengue for past two years.
The WHO has identified Dengue as one of the top ten global heath threats.
In 2022, India recorded 233251 Dengue cases and 303 deaths as per health ministry data.
In 2021, the cases were slightly lesser at 193245 but deaths were 346. In 2022, Punjab recorded 41 deaths due to Dengue, highest in the country followed by UP, Bihar and West Bengal with 33, 32 and 30 deaths.
In 2021, Rajasthan recorded a highest of 96 deaths due to Dengue followed by Punjab and Maharashtra with 55 and 42 deaths.
There is no treatment for Dengue as of now and India is in the process of developing an indigenous Dengue vaccine.
Indigenous Dengue Vaccine Development Underway in India, Clinical Trials Set to Begin in August
The vaccine is produced jointly by Serum Institute of India and Panacea Biotec. They have applied to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for third phase clinical trial of the vaccine. As per Health ministry officials, trials of the vaccine is likely to start in August this year.
Once approved the vaccine would be one of the biggest milestones in prevention and treatment of Dengue, which claims several lives every year.
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