RUPANDEHI: A total of 62 people have been diagnosed with dengue in the district. Data of the dengue patients has been collected from various hospitals including Lumbini state hospital, Butwal hospital Pvt Ltd, Amda hospital and Bhim hospital, said Dr Rajendra Giri, chief of the district public health office, adding that 42 have been cured for the disease. The number of dengue patients is increasing lately, he said.

The disease may spread from mid-August to mid-December as there is enough time left for larva to develop, he said. Amidst increasing number of dengue patients, dengue test kits are running short, he said. “We have only 100 kits at our disposal at present.”

Bhim hospital and Lumbini state hospital have been provided with the kits, but the hospitals may run short of the instrument if dengue patients continue to increase, he said. Dengue patients have been given priority, said Bipin Chhetri, section officer at Lumbini state hospital.

No concrete initiatives have been taken so far in launching awareness campaigns and controlling dengue despite the disease taking its toll, complained the local people. Dengue patients were detected in Rupandehi district for the first time in the fiscal year 2067/68.

Four persons died from the disease that year alone, two in the FY 2073/74 and two in 2074/75. Approximately 1500 people have been tested positive for the disease in the district in the past eight years, according to DPHO data.