14,705 dengue cases, 4 deaths in Pb till Nov 24: Mohindra

A total of 14,705 dengue cases were reported in Punjab out of which four deaths occurred till November 24 this year, the Assembly was informed today.
Replying to a calling attention notice on the second day of the ongoing winter session of the Punjab Assembly here, state Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said this year, cases of dengue have been reported from all 22 districts of the state.
Till November 24, the health and family welfare department conducted tests on 31,196 people free of charge and out of these, 14,705 positive cases of dengue were reported, Mohindra said.
The minister informed the House that Mohali had the maximum number of dengue cases at 2,395, followed by Patiala (which happens to be the city of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh) at 2,348 and Hoshiarpur at 1,259 cases.

Mohindra said dengue shows a seasonal pattern in the state every year and is reported during the post-monsoon period with peak in October and November.
Tests for dengue are done free of cost in 26 designated labs in government hospitals. More than 1,100 beds have been identified in government hospitals, Mohindra said.

The Assembly was also informed that about 14 lakh houses were checked by teams of the health department and out of these, around 38,000 houses were found to have mosquito breeding grounds which could spread the dengue.
"The department of health and family welfare is fully aware and vigilant about the situation of dengue in Punjab," the minister said.

MLAs Dharambir Agnihotri and Sukhwinder Kumar had moved the calling attention notice over expensive treatment and tests for dengue.