One more dies, toll climbs to 8

BHUBANESWAR: With over 40 per cent blood samples testing positive for dengue so far, the fever has claimed one more life in the State. A 57-year-old resident of Kaniha died at a private hospital in Cuttack on Saturday taking the toll to eight. The deceased was identified as Prafulla Behera, a native of Kaniha in Angul district, which has reported the highest number of positive cases till now. He was admitted to Shanti Hospital in Cuttack. The State Disease Surveillance Centre said more positive cases have been recorded. As many as 29 new cases of dengue were detected across the government hospitals of the State. On Saturday, 124 blood samples were tested in the three government colleges and hospitals. Out of that 93 samples were tested in SCB Medical, Cuttack, 22 in MKCG Medical, Berhampur, and nine in VSS Medical, Burla.  Of the 93 samples tested at SCB Medical, 19 tested positive. Similarly, MKCG Medical detected three and VSS  Medical reported seven positive cases. Of the 29 positive cases reported on the day, 15 cases were from Angul district alone. Ganjam and Jharsuguda threw up three cases each followed by Cuttack with two. Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Deogarh and Rayagada districts reported one case each. As things stand, dengue has now spread to 15 districts. The clinical analysis showed that till Saturday, 41 per cent samples have tested positive for dengue which could be a cause of concern for the Health Department. Of the 389 samples tested so far, 161 have been found positive. As usual, Angul remained the worst-hit with 121 out of 161 samples found positive. Nine positive cases have come in from Jajpur, seven from Cuttack, five from Dhenkanal and four from Sundargarh. Ganjam and Jharsuguda have reported three cases each.