‘650 mg paracetamol instead of 500 to cure dengue’: Uttarakhand CM advises patients

Dehradun, Sept 26: Take 650 mg of paracetamol instead of the usual dose of 500 mg -- this is what Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat advised dengue patients amid reports of the disease affecting 4,800 people in the state.

Rawat was on Wednesday reacting to claims that the mosquito-borne disease had become an epidemic in Uttarakhand this year.

“Dengue is far from acquiring epidemic proportions in Uttarakhand. Consuming 650 mg paracetamol and taking some rest cures one of the disease,” the chief minister told reporters here.

Meanwhile, DG, Health, R K Pandey told PTI that the total number of dengue cases reported in the state this year reached 4,800 on Wednesday. The official said the majority of the cases has been reported from Dehradun, where so far 3,000 people have been diagnosed, followed by Haldwani with 1,100 cases reported.

The chief minister claimed that only six people have died of the disease in the state so far this year, of which four were in Dehradun and two in Haldwani.

Rawat also claimed that none of the deaths had occurred in government hospitals.

The state Health Department, however, had on September 17 put the figure at eight.

The chief minister said he had met dengue patients admitted to government hospitals and they had benefited from the treatment administered at these facilities.

“There is no need to panic in case if someone is suffering from dengue fever. If one takes a dose of 650 mg paracetamol in place of 500 mg and some rest, one can be cured of the disease,” he said.

On swine flu, Rawat said doctors all over the world have accepted that it is a common type of influenza which can be kept at bay by often washing one’s hands, wearing a mask and taking other precautions.

DG Pandey said the number of cases of dengue reported this year are much higher as compared to the last, adding that this can be attributed to the fact that more diagnostic centres have been set up to conduct the ELISE test.

The number of cases are on a decline and there is no need to panic, the official added.

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Average age of school children picking up drugs, smoking habit in 10 Indian cities around 13 years!

News Network

December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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