KATHMANDU: The number of dengue patients has recently surged in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) area.

According to the KMC Department of Health, dengue cases have been on the rise in all 32 wards of Kathmandu for the past week.

Ram Prasad Poudel, Chief of the Department, shared that although dengue cases were relatively low until the third week of September compared to the same period last year, the number of people with infections has been increasing lately.

Despite the KMC’s efforts to control the dengue outbreak by spraying larvicides this year, Poudel further shared that the contagion has not yet been brought under control.

“We initiated larvicide spraying in water-filled areas to contain the dengue outbreak since the third week of June,” he said.

“Despite this, we are still detecting new dengue patients. Dengue can persist until November 1st, so everyone should remain vigilant against dengue infection during this period,” he added.

All wards in the metropolis remained infection-free until the third week of September.

According to KMC data, there have been 35 recent cases of dengue infection in KMC.

“Due to early preparedness, the number of dengue cases has decreased compared to last year,” Poudel noted. KMC has continued the larva search and destroy campaign in all wards every Wednesday.

It’s worth noting that in 2022, 88 people in the country lost their lives to dengue infection, and a total of 54,078 people were infected with dengue that year.