Bengaluru: As Karnataka grapples with COVID pandemic, the incessant rains have brought another set of problems. The dengue cases are alarmingly on the rise in the State which has recorded 2,987 dengue cases till Sept.2021.

“Between Sept.15 and Nov.17, Karnataka saw a sudden spurt of 85 percent in the number of dengue cases. The State had recorded 2,987 dengue cases till Sept. 2021. However, after heavy and untimely rains, a total of 2,540 new cases were recorded till Nov. 18, 2021 from Sept. 2021,” National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Advisor Dr. Naresh Purohit said on Sunday.

While citing his recent scientific report, Dr. Purohit averred that as many as 1,038 cases of dengue were reported in Bengaluru alone in 2021. In the month of Nov., 130 persons tested positive, he said.

Dengue’s four variants, including the deadly D2, are in circulation in different parts of Karnataka causing a nightmare for health authorities to combat the spread of the disease, Dr. Purohit said.

After Bengaluru, Shivamogga district reported 393, followed by Kalaburagi 386, Udupi 312 and Koppal 278. Moreover, 16 percent of the State’s total cases in 2021 were reported in Bengaluru, and the city continued to record the highest number of positive cases, he said.

Dr. Purohit averred that in India, according to the World Health Organisation, 70.8 percent of the total healthcare expenditure for dengue was out-of-pocket in 2019. According to the World Bank, the percentage of out-of-pocket expenditure is as high as 86.4 percent as dengue fever causes a significant economic and social burden on the population of endemic areas, he said.

Dr. Purohit said incessant rains, water stagnation points, pits, and garbage dumps have been the cause for mosquitoes to breed, causing dengue.

Dengue, experts said, causes substantial financial loss to the Indian families, of which, a significant proportion lies below the poverty line. Government is the only agency working for the prevention of this kind of vector-borne disease.

Public awareness in the community about the treatment of dengue is very scant. People use their savings which is the major method to cope up with expenditure due to dengue fever, they said.

Significant proportion of the population uses the incurred borrowing as a method to pay for the treatment of dengue, which is a matter of concern, they added.