With the onset of monsoon, comes a host of mosquito-borne diseases including dengue, malaria, chikungunya, Zika virus and others. Dengue mosquito (Aedes aegypti) has once again started to spread its menace in the Patiala district of Punjab. Larvae of Aedes aegypti has been found at 5,421 places.
Under its weekly campaign “Dry Day Friday”, the Health Department has intensified anti-dengue activities. The department along with NGOs and residents would conduct a mass awareness anti-dengue drive on September 8.
According to a report, 6.9 lakh houses have already been inspected so far by the department of which at 5,421 places larvae of dengue were detected and destroyed.
So far this year, 17 positive cases of dengue have been confirmed in the Patiala district.
It is said that prevention is better than cure and the saying stands true when it comes to taking precaution against the dengue virus. Dengue larvae take around five to seven days to fully breed in fresh stagnant water. Thus, if the accumulation of water is avoided or if area, where water gets accumulated easily, cleaning at least once in seven days, can stop the breeding of mosquitoes and thereby, restrict the spread of the vector-borne disease.
According to a report in The Tribune, District Epidemiologist Dr Sumeet informed that whenever there was heavy indoor breeding of dengue larvae, the outbreak has always taken place. He said health workers were putting in their best efforts, but residents need to understand that such collections should be cleaned by them.
The Health Department, from September onwards, has earmarked separate wards to handle cases testing positive with dengue. As many as 30 beds at Government Rajindra Hospital, 20 at Mata Kaushalya and 10 each at three subdivision hospitals, including Samana, Rajpura, and Nabha have been reserved for patients diagnosed with positive. Apart from this, 10 beds at CHC Tripuri,
Model Town and six beds each at Ghanaur and Patran have been reserved.
“The Health Department is fully equipped and ready to tackle any urgency. We have already set up dengue wards,” the report quoted Dr Sumeet saying.
Professor Bhupinder Batra from the Punjabi University told The Tribune, “As responsible humans, we are liable to take care of our health. Unless we keep our surroundings neat and clean, we will continue to suffer from deadly diseases such as dengue, malaria.”
The resident of Anand Nagar, Saravjeet Kaur Virk said, “Every year, Patiala witness a high number of (dengue) positive cases. The administration has no long term solution. Vacant plots are turning into breeding grounds.” The report also quoted Amrinder Singh, a resident of Sanauri Adda, who said, “Officials sometimes do not do fogging in all the areas. Fogging should be done at a large scale and cover every nook and corner.”
Dr Harish Malhotra, Patiala Civil Surgeon told The Tribune that the hotspot areas were being monitored regularly. “Public is being regularly made aware of controlling measures. In fact, everyone should take care of their house and surroundings,” he added.
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