Dengue mosquito finds way to towns from jungles: Himachal minister
Shimla, Sep 1 : Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar believes that the dengue spreading mosquito is finding its way to the towns from the jungles.
The minister's diagnosis of the dengue problem in the state came during his reply in the legislative Assembly.
Replying to a debate under Rule 62 on Friday, Parmar was categorical in saying that the jungle fever is stalking the state.
The disease spreads most commonly from the jungles to the towns, he said while replying to a question raised by member Rakesh Jamwal, who expressed concern over the spike in dengue patients in Mandi district.
"I have studied that there was a time when the dengue mosquito inhabited the forests. Why these circumstances have changed that made a forest-inhabiting mosquito to start living in towns and why it is feeling happy while living in a room," he said in his detailed reply in Hindi.
"Earlier we used to read and learn that this dengue mosquito is a native of Africa, Uganda and middle east Asia. This dengue came to India around 30 years ago and in Himachal Pradesh sometime in 1995."
Without mincing words, the minister said "the platelet count in dengue patients falls drastically and there is no injection to increase it."
The minister said a total of 4,946 dengue samples were collected in the state, out of which 1,558 tested positive. Bilaspur district took the lead in dengue positive cases at 783, followed by Solan district (680) and Mandi district (206).
Chamba, Hamirpur and Kullu districts have no positive cases of dengue till date.
He said the first case of dengue was reported in Bilaspur town on May 28.
"We are taking precautions to check a rise in the number of dengue cases which include making people aware of the steps they need to take to minimise its spread," he added.
According to the state Directorate of Health Services, a total of 1,886 dengue patients were reported in the state till August 31, out of which Bilaspur district had the maximum of 865 patients.
Two patients also died due to dengue in the state.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease, causing great public health concern in India. Dengue virus is transmitted by Aedes aegypti, the species of mosquito that causes acute illness.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
