Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu Health Department is on high alert following the increase in dengue cases in the state. Around 14,000 dengue cases and seven deaths have been recorded in the last nine months, which is the highest number of cases in the last seven years.

With the northeast monsoon set to hit the state in the first week of October, the state Public Health Department has communicated to all the district health officers to increase surveillance on breeding of mosquitoes and to create awareness among the public about water stagnation and the possibilities of breeding of mosquitoes.

Director of State Public Health Department, T.S. Selvavinayagam, told mediapersons that till December the state health department would be on high alert. He appealed to the people to keep their surroundings clean and to prevent the breeding of mosquitos.

The state Public Health Department has already directed the district health officers to direct all the PHCs in their districts to conduct awareness among the public on the increase in dengue cases and to prevent mosquito breeding.

The data obtained from the state Public Health department revealed that ten districts account for 58 per cent of the total cases.

Of this, Chennai, Coimbatore and Krishnagiri districts have the maximal number of cases. While Chennai reported 14 per cent of the total cases, Coimbatore reported 11 per cent of the cases and Krishnagiri 8 per cent .

The local bodies are directed to conduct larval indices to monitor the population of Aedes mosquitoes, the primary carriers of the dengue virus.

This surveillance involves testing mosquito pools for the presence of the virus and 349 such pools have been identified in 2024.

The state Public Health Department officials told mediapersons that these findings guide health officials in implementing micro-containment measures which help to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.

Tamil Nadu Health Department officials told IANS that both the government and private hospitals are now required to upload dengue case data into the integrated Health information portals.

Health Minister Ma Subramainiam told media persons that the state is aiming for effective management of the disease early and prevent the number of deaths.

He said: "Early diagnosis and proper management is the goal of the government."

The minister also said that technically the government have strengthened surveillance compared to previous years.