Bengal - Over 1,000 Now Down With Dengue

Over 1,000 people affected with dengue in West Bengal, though the number of deaths remains at five, according to state health department data Saturday.

The total number of people afflicted with the mosquito-borne disease has mounted to 1,125, of whom 720 are from worst-hit Kolkata. All the five deaths have been reported from the metropolis.

The neighbouring North 24 Parganas district has recorded 183 dengue cases.

Seventeen of the state's 19 districts have been hit by the virus that is carried into the human body by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Meanwhile, opposition Left Front chairman Biman Bose criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for assuming the role of a doctor.

"She is giving instructions like a doctor. This is dangerous. She is not a qualified doctor. One should not play with the lives of people," he said.

Banerjee has been daily advising people about the do's and don'ts of the disease including which medicines to take and what to avoid if they exhibit dengue-like symptoms.

Source: IANS