80 confirmed cases of dengue in Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 10 (IANS) As many as 80 confirmed cases of dengue have been reported so far in West Bengal, a senior health official said Friday.

"So far there are 80 patients who have been confirmed as suffering from dengue. We are keeping a close watch on the situation," director of health services B.R. Satpathy told IANS.

According to Satpathy, 64 of these are from Kolkata, 14 from North 24 Parganas district and two from other parts of the state.

For the last few days, several people from in and around Kolkata have been admitted to several hospitals with symptoms similar to dengue.

"We are carrying out an awareness campaign to tackle this menace. We are planning a large scale campaign along with the School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata," said Satpathy.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation's health department in-charge Atin Ghosh said a high-level meeting was convened with experts from National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, School of Tropical Medicine and KMC officials to discuss the measures that need to be taken to tackle the problem.