Health Department Intensifies Random Blood Tests in West Bengal Dengue Zones

In response to a rapid rise in dengue infections, West Bengal’s health department has stepped up random blood‑sample testing across 29 municipalities, 85 community development blocks and 278 gram panchayats that have been declared hotspots. The decision follows data showing that the majority of dengue‑positive cases in the previous month originated from these areas. The department uses a specific formula: a panchayat with ten or more confirmed patients, a block with more than thirty cases, and a municipality where most wards report at least five infections are all classified as hotspots. The agency is also conducting a wide‑reaching awareness drive, urging anyone with a fever lasting two days or longer to get a blood test instead of taking medicines on their own. Field staff are visiting households to advise covering water tanks, cisterns and any open containers with lids or mosquito nets, and to eliminate stagnant water in flower pots, discarded drums and similar breeding sites. Larvicidal treatments are being applied to ponds, drains, wells and factory premises as part of the vector‑control strategy. The latest bulletin released on Sunday listed 5,002 confirmed dengue cases up to September 11, a steeply higher figure compared with under 2,500 cases recorded by the same date in August. Murshidabad tops the list with 1,072 cases, followed by Kolkata (500) and North 24 Parganas (450).