It is indeed a matter of great concern that the experts believe that dengue will strike with much greater force this year. The fear is not baseless since quite a few dengue patients have already been admitted to hospital.What is particularly worrying is that conditions of almost all the patients turned critical soon after they were admitted to hospital as most of them are reported to have suffered a second attack. According to the doctors, the second infection can be far more severe than the first one, with the patients showing the symptoms like nasal bleeding very early.The disease killed well over 100 people last year when our doctors were not prepared to face the situation, and the hospitals were also not well-equipped to handle the sudden rush of patients. Since it was known that dengue would stage a comeback, it was also expected that there would be tangible improvement in treatment facilities. But the report on the dengue situation published in this newspaper yesterday gives a rather dismal picture. The number of the centres where the disease can be diagnosed has not increased, and only a handful of hospitals have the platelet separation device. It seems things have not moved much since dengue subsided nearly five months ago.Last year, there were some hectic activities like inviting foreign specialists to the country in order to effectively manage the disease. It was reported in the newspapers that several platelet separation machines would be installed in hospitals. It is, however. not known why the hospitals are finding the task of managing the disease equally difficult this year also.There are a lot many things that we have to do to take the sting out of the dengue attack. The deadly type of mosquitoes have to be destroyed with a sense of urgency. But the City Corporation’s fogging machines do not spew the needed dose of venom, and mosquitoes are still an unconquered enemy. So the departments or agencies concerned should immediately formulate an action plan to fight dengue.