Experts on a mission to eliminate dengue
NEW DELHI: Last year, dengue cases had skyrocketed in the city. The civic agencies have, therefore, already begun preparations to curb the spread of the mosquito-borne viral infection.
In 2013, 5,455 cases of dengue were reported from Delhi, with six deaths, which is nearly three times the cases reported in 2012 and the highest number of cases reported during the past three years.
Also, dengue cases were pouring in till the end of December last year, though the disease usually dies down with the onset of winters.
Keeping this in mind, the public health department of the south Delhi Municipal Corporation held a workshop on Prevention and Control of vector borne diseases earlier this month, wherein various experts working in the field of vectorborne diseases participated to review last year’s situation.
Experts from the World Health Organisation, National Centre for Disease Control, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Delhi government and medical superintendents of all major hospitals and representatives of other departments concerned contributed in devising a concrete plan to check the spread of not only dengue but also malaria and chikungunya that are common during the rainy season.
“We are calling it the Action Plan for prevention and control of vector and water borne diseases, which will be prepared specifically for the year 2014-15. However, it is still in the process right now as we have also sought inputs from inter-sectoral departments, which takes time,” said NK Yadav, municipal health officer, south Delhi Municipal Corporation.
April is the time when preventive measures are on in full swing.
“Our regular activities are on as per the schedule. Domestic breeding checkers are making door-to-door rounds of the properties in their assigned areas as usual and we are issuing challans to owners who are found flouting norms and where breeding of mosquitoes is found,” said Yadav.
Besides cleaning of water bodies, drains etc., taking anti-larval measures is also an integral part of the disease prevention drive.
“Use of chemicals in fogging is effective in killing adult mosquitoes; to prevent breeding in general, anti-larval measures are very useful,” said a senior New Delhi Municipal Council official. Fogging as a method of controlling mosquito-breeding has come under scanner, hence the civic agencies claim they prefer taking anti-larval measures to check mosquito growth and use fogging only as a last resort.
“Our workers spray anti-larvae wherever there is stagnant water but an area where there is adult-mosquito breeding fogging is the best method to check it. It’s a call that the technical person takes after checking the situation on ground. The component used for fogging-Pyrethrum, is a plant extract that kills adult mosquitoes instantly,” Sharma said.
“The key to controlling is creating awareness; after all, it is a man-made problem. If people are careful and don’t let mosquitoes breed in and around their houses, it will automatically bring down the disease numbers. We involve school students, teachers, principals, resident welfare associations in our camps to ensure maximum reach,” he said.
Incidentally, prevention and control of mosquito-borne diseases is also WHO’s theme for this year on the World Health Day, titled Small Bite: Big Threat.