Tamil Nadu hospitals expand capacity amid rising dengue cases

Hospitals across Tamil Nadu are expanding fever treatment facilities and adding dedicated wards to manage a surge in dengue and viral fever cases. This expansion comes ahead of the Northeast Monsoon to accommodate increasing patient inflows.

In Chennai, the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children in Egmore is opening a 60-bed ward to relieve pressure on pediatric units. Private hospitals in the city have also reported rising numbers of respiratory infections and influenza, with some facilities experiencing patient wait times of up to 12 hours for beds.

Statewide, approximately 19,000 dengue cases and nine deaths have been recorded this year. High concentrations of fever cases have been reported in districts including Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu. To manage the situation, authorities have conducted roughly 2.24 lakh dengue tests and deployed over 26,300 health workers for field surveillance.

The Greater Chennai Corporation has intensified mosquito-control efforts across its 15 zones, including house-to-house inspections, larvicide application, and fogging to eliminate breeding sites.