Dengue cases decline in city,25 cases reported in 2009

The year 2006 also saw as many as 182 cases testing positive,of which 106 came from various parts of Chandigarh while the remaining were from the adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana. It was in 2004 and earlier that the city saw a complete relief from dengue,as no case was reported.

“Lack of adequate rainfall during the monsoons last year is a plausible cause of the drastic reduction in the cases as dengue is a post-monsoon phenomenon and the mosquito becomes active in stagnant water gathered after the rainfall,” said an official of the Health department.

While the Health authorities are still trying to figure out the exact reason for a sudden decline in the numbers,experts feel the intense focus on the swine flu epidemic heightened awareness among the residents for most part of the last year and led to a reduction in other infections as well.

“Due to fear of the swine flu epidemic,the consumption of anti-viral and immunity building medicines has gone up. People were aware about aberration in the health condition and took medicines to prevent the ailments in general,” reasoned another physician.