AGARTALA, August 5 (TIWN): Healthcare situation further escalated in the state today with three more persons infected with Japanese Encephalitis and 460 freshly infected with malaria.
A highly placed source in the Department of Health and Family Welfare today said that a total of seven persons were infected by Japanese Encephalitis till date.

Two among the three freshly infected three afflicted with Japanese Encephalitis were treated, cured and sent back home, the source said. He added that one person is still undergoing treatment at the GB Hospital.

Three others, from Udaipur sub-division in Gomati district, who recently visited Vellore for treatment purpose were diagnosed with dengue after they returned to the state from Tamil Nadu.

Mishtu Das of Jamjuri area in Udaipur was reported to have been administered blood after her condition deteriorated following a trip to Chennai for medical purposes earlier this year. She was diagnosedon Saturday to have contacted dengue. Two more persons- Ajit Das and Misthu's daughter Parmita Das were also diagnosed with the disease. All three are now totally cured, an official communiqué from the health department said.

The communiqué added that one person was diagnosed to have freshly infected with dengue at the GB Hospital today.

A recent entomological survey found presence of culex vishnoi and aedes mosquitos in the state with high density in the urban areas. Agartala city and its suburbs are reported to have high presence of the mosquito species.

State malaria programme officer Dr. Bidhu Bhushan Das said that the state government recently wrote to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme for sanction of at least three dengue testing kits. At least 96 persons can be tested with each of these kits, he said.

The state is currently having a small reserve of Japanese Encephalitis testing kits though the only public healthcare centre authorized to conduct tests for the disease – GB Hospital doesn’t have sufficient intake capacity or trained personnel after all the regular patients.

A total of 3,203 fever patients underwent blood tests in different hospitals and healthcare centers of the state today; 460 among them were found to have been infected with the malaria parasite. A total of 2 lakh 58 thousand 595 patients fell ill from malaria, dengue, Japanese Encephalitis and seasonal flu according to the official records since June.