Bihar, September 14: In the wake of a spurt in the cases of dengue and swine flu ,Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said an alert has been sounded across Bihar .
Eight persons have died of dengue in Bihar and over 60 patients from various parts of the state have been admitted to Patna hospitals in the last three days. People say the government has sounded an alert, but taken little action so far.
“We have alerted the authorities in the districts to take all preventive steps for checking the spread of dengue and swine flu virus, besides appropriate steps for treating the patients who tested positive for the diseases”, Kumar told
The chief minister said he also spoke to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and apprised the latter of the situation.
Medical experts were also being rushed to the places where several patients have tested positive for dengue, he said.
Residents of Munger, where two deaths took place, and Begusarai districts, where the third dengue death occurred, are complaining of official apathy.
“The district administration, particularly health officials and the municipal body, has failed to check the spread of dengue,” said Satish Singh, the relative of a dengue patient from Munger who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Patna.A woman died of suspected swine flu at a hospital on monday.
Patna residents too are complaining.”Time is running out for the government to initiate preventable measures or dengue will prove a curse soon for the state,” said Ranjeet Yadav, a businessman in Patna.
Sources in health department said medical experts were also being taken to places where several patients have tested positive for dengue.
—Agencies