Dehradun: With dengue taking several parts of the Himalayan state in its grip, the number of patients in Uttarakhand shot up to 472 and is likely to cross the 500 mark by Wednesday.Maximum patients (205) are between 19 and 35 years of age and 123 patients are above 35 years. Of the total number of cases , over 300 patients are male and the remaining are female.The health department data has indicated that most of the cases have surfaced from Haridwar (161) followed by Dehradun (136), Tehri Garhwal (100) and Nainital (48). Till now two deaths have been recorded — one each from Pauri and Tehri Garhwal districts in August and September respectively.The health department, district magistrate and school authorities have issued advisories among children and their parents regarding methods to prevent dengue.Officials said that the dengue virus is not very virulent this year unlike bygone years when more people were under its attack. Director general of health department, Tara Chand Pant, said, “This year we are in a better position and we are hopeful that the number of cases will decrease next year.”Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, a Zika advisory has been issued in Uttarakhand on Tuesday. Zika is normally a mild and self-limiting illness and in most cases patients remain asymptomatic. However, it may cause some serious adverse effects in newborns if the mother gets infected during pregnancy.Sharing more details, state nodal officer for IDSP, Dr Pankaj Singh, said, “The major mode of transmission is through the vector Aedes Aegypti mosquito which is the same for dengue and chikungunya. Hence, the efforts undertaken by the state to prevent and control the dengue virus will also hinder cases of zika case in Uttarakhand.”

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