Mumbai, Aug 31: As per the statistics provided by the state health department, dengue cases have spiked in Maharashtra this Monsoon. In August, 1,151 people tested positive to the vector-borne disease. The numbers cause an alarm if seen vis-a-vis the data available from January to July, when 2,134 cases of dengue were registered in the seven-month period. Expert Tips To Stay Protected From The Vector-Borne Disease This Monsoon.

According to Shashikant Jadhav, joint director (vector-borne diseases), the spurt in dengue is due to the consistent drizzle throughout August, which has provided a conducive atmosphere for the disease-causing mosquitoes to breed. Partially putting the onus on residents, he said the unclean environment, particularly the discarding of containers, allows the water to accumulate, which in-turn provides a breeding ground for the mosquitoes.

Activist Sanjay Deshpande, however, countered the claim saying that municipal corporations in several parts of the state have failed to discharge their duties, which has led to a spurt in dengue cases.

The maximum number of dengue cases this year have been recorded in areas under the jurisdiction of Kolhapur civic body (334), followed by Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation (228) and Pune Municipal Corporation (203).

Nine lives have been claimed by the disease so far, with five deaths in Kolhapur and one each in Mumbai, Pune, Vasai-Virar, Jalna and Nashik.

Notably, the state health department does not take into account the cases of dengue patients who were tested positive using the rapid test kits. Instead, the official count includes only those patients who were tested positive for dengue at designated sentinel centres, where the high-end Elisa test is conducted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2018 03:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).