The West Bengal Health Department has identified five districts — Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Murshidabad — as the most dengue-prone zones in the state, officials confirmed on Monday, 31 August. Persistent weather unpredictability and heavy monsoon rainfall have driven dengue cases and deaths upward, prompting the department to place these districts under heightened surveillance.

Scale of the Outbreak

According to state health department officials, approximately 1,000 new dengue cases were reported in the state in the one month leading up to 30 August. The cumulative case count since the beginning of the current monsoon season has crossed 3,000, with 10 dengue-related deaths recorded so far this year.

The situation is compounded by a concurrent malaria surge. Officials noted that the state has logged over 5,000 malaria cases during the current year, a substantial portion of which involve Plasmodium Falciparum — the deadliest strain of malaria, known to severely damage the kidneys.

The Falciparum Threat

Besides dengue, instances of Plasmodium Falciparum, which is the deadliest form of malaria that can badly affect the kidneys, have also been reported from these districts, a state health department official said. The dual burden of dengue and this malaria strain places acute pressure on district-level health infrastructure, particularly in high-density urban areas such as Kolkata and Howrah.

Government Transparency Push

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has issued explicit instructions to all hospital authorities and doctors to accurately report dengue and malaria figures, pushing back against what he described as a legacy of systematic undercounting under the previous government.

'Clear instructions have been given to all concerned to mention the right disease. There is no need to mention dengue or malaria cases as unknown fever. The previous state government always underquoted the affected or death count, where the hospital authorities and doctors were forced to report dengue cases as unknown fever. But we are asking them not to hide anything. What is there to hide? If there is dengue, it will definitely be dealt with. There is no reason to be afraid when doctors write dengue. If it is dengue, they will write dengue. If not, they will not write,' said CM Adhikari.

The remarks are a direct rebuke of practices allegedly prevalent during the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration, which critics had long accused of suppressing vector-borne disease data during peak monsoon months.

What Comes Next

With the monsoon likely to persist through September, health officials warn that case counts in the five flagged districts could rise further. The department's focus will be on vector control drives, rapid diagnostic testing, and ensuring that district hospitals have adequate platelet supply and anti-malarial medication. How effectively the transparency directive translates into ground-level reporting will be a key indicator of whether the state's disease surveillance has genuinely improved.