The majority of deaths in Mathura, Agra and Firozabad were due to dengue fever caused by the D2 strain, which can cause fatal haemorrhaging, said ICMR director-general Dr Balram Bhargava on Thursday.
Further, after the outbreak in Uttar Pradesh, Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog urged people to take protective measures against vector-borne diseases and noted that dengue can lead to complications and death.
“Protect yourself from vector-borne diseases by using mosquito nets, mosquito repellents, covering yourself to avoid mosquito bites, because dengue can lead to death. We do not have even a vaccine for dengue, so it is important to take dengue as a serious disease it leads to complications, Malaria also has ill effects. We have to fight against the disease,” Paul said at the health briefing.
According to experts, dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2 or D2) is known to be the most virulent strain and can cause severity in disease.
Recently a central team visited Firozabad district and observed that the majority of cases are due to dengue, while a few are because of scrub typhus and leptospirosis.
Vector Indices were found to be high with House Index and Container Index, both above 50 per cent.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has deputed two EIS (Epidemic Intelligence Service) officers in the district for the next 14 days and they will assist the administration in strengthening its outbreak response.
Covid vaccine tracker
The Centre has developed a Covid-19 vaccine tracker by synergising data from three platforms to give information on various aspects of vaccination like effectiveness post-inoculation, Bhargava said.
“The data have been synergised based on ICMR identification number and on the basis of mobile numbers. We have been able to get a vaccine tracker which is going to be online very soon on the Ministry of Health’s website,” he said.
The tracker gives week by week coverage of the first and second dose of vaccine and also their effectiveness.
Citing the data from the Covid-19 tracker from 18 April to 15 August, Bhargava said vaccine effectiveness in preventing mortality is 96.6% and 97.5% after the second dose.
“It is clear that after two doses, there is near for total protection of serious diseases and death,” said Paul.
With inputs from agencies.
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