Dengue cases have witnessed a surge in various states in India.

On Friday, a medical expert in Jammu called it the biggest epidemic since 2013.

More than 3,000 patients are admitted in hospitals with dengue while the district has already recorded six deaths, a health official said.

The trend has emerged as a grave concern with cases, tests and admissions increasing every week, the official said.

“Six people have died in Jammu till today (Friday),” Jammu Chief Medical Officer Harbaksh Singh told PTI.

He said the district had so far recorded 3,376 cases. “Of these, 2,796 cases have been reported from rural areas,” Singh said.

Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, Principal Dr Shashi Sudhan Sharma said, “Since last week, there has been an upward trend in dengue cases. There has been an increase in positivity among patients coming with fever. Hospital admissions have increased too.”

She said the mosquito-borne seasonal viral disease had spread rapidly to all regions and the number of patients in hospitals was rising every day.

“Around 80-90 children and nearly 50-60 adults are being admitted in hospitals daily,” she said, adding that it was the biggest epidemic after 2013 the way it was spreading.

Sharma attributed the deaths to late hospital admission adding that the hospital was fully prepared to cope with the situation.

“Cases are being controlled and all measures are being taken to avoid the spread,” she said. She also appealed to the general public to follow all precautions.

Chief Medical Officer Singh said all measures had been put in place to deal with the situation.

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Municipal Corporation here to apprise it of the steps taken for the control and prevention of dengue.

The Bench directed the authorities to support the local administration in providing manpower, machines or funds for the purpose.

A PIL alleged the spread of dengue fever in the city and blamed the state authorities for apparently failing to take steps to control or prevent it.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in Maharashtra on Wednesday directed officials to ensure that every suspected dengue patient is hospitalised.

Wards in hospitals should be always available for dengue patients, TMC chief Abhijeet Bangar said.

Thane has reported three confirmed cases of dengue so far in October, the civic body said.

The municipal commissioner also asked officials to take up a weekly follow-up of patients on the lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

A civic body report in Delhi said on Monday that the number of dengue cases has seen a spike with 635 new infections being reported in the first 12 days of October taking the total tally to 1,572 so far this year,

Of the total 1,572 cases recorded this year, as many as 693 were reported in September alone.

The city had logged 937 cases of dengue this year till September-end, and 635 fresh cases were reported in the first 12 days of October, taking the tally of the vector-borne disease in the city to 1,572, according to the report released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday.

The Union Health Ministry had also deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Uttar Pradesh to collaborate with the state authorities in instituting public health measures for dengue management in Firozabad, Agra and Etawah districts.

Uttar Pradesh has been reporting a considerable number of dengue cases recently.

A senior official of the state health department on 14 October said that 140 dengue cases were reported on 13 October with Lucknow reporting 39 and Prayagaj 46 instances of the vector-borne disease.