Dengue Fever in India - Essay Example

Dengue Fever in India Clearly, this article is controversial right from the The heading is adequately detailed to bring out the controversy of the big margin between the actual cases of dengue and those reported by government officials (Burke 4). The authors are mainly addressing the Indian government and health officials on their ineffective recording of dengue cases. The flow of the news is well-organized making it easy to comprehend. Moreover, the lead statement is well-written such that the reader can understand the whole story just from reading the lead sentence.

Additionally, the author discusses other issues surrounding dengue such as economic costs, which gives the story more detail. The author also uses data and quotes to support the claim, and this, gives the story credibility. Though the article presents several issues that may have caused inadequate response and documentation of cases such as doctors being too busy to document dengue patients and patients seeking treatment in private hospitals that do not keep records, the author seem to put the blame on government and health officials in India.

This gives the story an element of bias because the better part of the article is oriented towards the opinion of the author. As controversial as it begins, the story ends in controversy where the government of India acknowledges the discrepancies in reporting dengue cases, but at the same time insists that it cannot be 300 times. They maintain that utmost the value can be ten-fold. This makes the story more remarkable and attracts the readers’ attention. This story comes at a moment when the world is grappling with the Ebola outbreak, and since dengue is another epidemic, the article is timely with the current events.

Work cited Burke, Jason. "India dengue fever cases 300 times higher than officially reported - study." The Guardian 7 October 2014. Web. Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/07/india-dengue-fever-300-times-higher-reported-study