Only 3 cases, district records lowest dengue tally in Doaba

While a crowded Civil Hospital in Jalandhar once used to be dotted with patients grappling for beds in peak dengue season, as soon as monsoons hit; the district has witnessed a near dramatic change in pattern in past several years. The same seems to be repeating this year as well. Across Doaba, Jalandhar has reported the least number of dengue cases this year until now.

Even as Kapurthala leads state in de

ngue with 26 positive cases, among other Doaba districts, Hoshiarpur has reported 13 cases of dengue, Nawanshahr reported four and Jalandhar has reported only three this year, so far. (Until the same time last year, 10 people had tested positive for dengue in Jalandhar). All three dengue cases reported in 2025 in Jalandhar are from rural areas (Mehtapur-2, Shahkot-1) and were reported in the months of May (29 and 30) and June (26).

In years like 2016 and 2021 Jalandhar saw over 400 cases a year. But in the past two years, less than 200 cases of dengue (per year) were reported in Jalandhar. As many as 176 dengue cases were reported in 2023 (112 urban, 64 rural) and 131 in 2024 (92 urban, 39 rural). The trend is in keeping with last year when Hoshiarpur led in dengue cases and similar patterns in recent years—when Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur led dengue tally.

With dengue cases usually peaking in August and September, the

coming months will be decisive to see whether the scenario persists.

Cases going unreported

Some cases being reported among private hospitals going unreported to government establishment, may be one of the reasons for lesser cases in district. However, health authorities said all major private hospitals were reporting dengue cases to the department. Yet, of the 532 samples tested in Jalandhar this year so far, 373 were reported in government facilities and only 159 in private facilities.

Intensive field drives

Meanwhile, health officials say intensive weekly sampling and breeding check drives by a workforce of over 6,000 field staff, in part, is responsible for dengue prevention. The health department has deputed as many as 45 teams (15 urban and 30 rural) for dengue field checks on a daily basis. As many as 1,790 health workers carry out sampling and larvae surveys in district daily. These 1,790 staff comprise 188 multipurpose health workers (96 female and 92 male), 55 multi purpose health supervisors, a network of 1,487 ASHA workers and 60 breeding checkers (22 urban and 38 rural). Apart from these, as many as 4,136 nursing students from across 19 nursing colleges in Jalandhar and 193 pharmacy students are also roped in to carry out weekly sampling surveys on Fridays. Together with health workers they amount to 6,119 field staff. Meanwhile, teachers across 1,451 schools in the district are also employed to review their school enviorns, reports of which are sent weekly.

Drive behind success

Jalandhar Civil Surgeon Dr Gurmeet Lal said, “The weekly intense Friday Dry Day campaign has contributed a lot in keeping dengue cases in check in the district. Additionally, a wide network of our field staff is also responsible for carrying out ground level drives, including sampling and checking of larvae breeding. As many as 60 breeding checkers are also on the job daily.” Speaking on the dengue cases reported across private hospitals, the Civil Surgeon said, “Most of the major hospitals in Jalandhar are reporting their cases to us and since a foolproof formal dengue testing infrastructure via Elisa testing, in the district is only available with the government health department, most samples are routed through us. Very few private labs conduct Elisa tests.”

Prevention measures

The authorities concerned have launched preventive measures to curb the spread of dengue this year. A comprehensive survey covered 2,10,421 houses, with 86,528 in urban areas and 1,23,893 in rural regions. A total of 532 samples were tested—373 by government facilities and 159 by private labs. Dengue larvae were found in 275 houses, of which 256 were urban and 19 rural. Officials inspected 6,90,576 containers, identifying 287 as positive for larvae. The prevention campaign involved 45 dengue teams, including 15 in urban areas and 30 in rural zones. Authorities issued 15 warning notes, 14 in urban areas and one in a rural area. Urban dengue hot spots included Bhargo Camp, Abadpura, Model House, Basti Guzan, Dhan Mohalla, Bhoor Mandi, Jalandhar Cantt, and Punjab Roadways Depot 2, while rural hot spots were identified as Talwan, Adampur, Kartarpur, Mehatpur, Shahkot, Jamsher Khas, and Jandiala.

Jalandhar