PATNA: The state health department has reserved 10 beds each in all the district hospitals, apart from a dedicated dengue ward in medical colleges and hospitals, to tackle a sudden surge in dengue cases across the state. Patna has reported 42 new cases officially in a fortnight with maximum cases from densely populated areas - Bajrangpuri, Kankarbagh, Bazar Samiti, Musallahpur Haat, Rajeev Nagar and localities close to Patna Medical College and Hospital. So far, total 222 dengue cases have been registered in Bihar this year, including 69 cases in Patna. "Apart from Patna district, Bhagalpur has second highest cases with 61 positive cases, followed by Bhojpur with nine cases. The health department is keeping a tab across the state and two control rooms in the state capital are functioning in this regard," said Dr Ashok Kumar, additional director-cum-state programme officer (vector borne disease control)."We have facilities for tests in all the government health institutes, right from primary health centre to the medical college and hospital. Anyone with fever, headache, bodyache or other symptoms should get tested for free," said Dr Kumar. He also urged people to take all necessary precautions and ensure that no stagnant water in their house or locality was found. "It is in our hands to protect our self from dengue and we can do so by checking the potential breeding grounds like flower pots, coolers and unused tyres," he said.City-based physician Dr Diwakar Tejaswi said two to three cases in a week were being reported even at private clinics and these were the local cases with no travel history. "While the situation is not panicky, but these are the early bells. If precautions are not taken, the situation may be out of control," said Dr Tejaswi.An official of the health department said, "Dengue cases have started increasing now, especially from the last week of August. These are expected to go up in September too. However, the situation is much better compared to previous year. Last year, nearly 7,000 cases were reported in Patna district alone. Anti-larva spraying and fogging are being done in the areas which are reporting new cases as well as in those areas which were the hot spots previous year."

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