Ahead of the dengue and malaria season, the district health department of Dehradun has come into an action mode to combat spread of these vector borne diseases. 

The department has started an awareness campaign in the areas where the disease is traditionally reported more.

On its part, the Municipal Corporation (MCD) of Dehradun has also started fogging activity in many localities of the provisional state capital.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun, Dr S K Gupta told The Pioneer that the department is on a pro active mode so that the dengue is under control. The outburst of the disease is reported during the months of monsoon. The CMO said that the department would start a comprehensive door to door survey of the city in which Asha workers would tell people on the ways to prevent the disease.

The district vector borne diseases officer Subash Joshi said, “Our workers are identifying the potential breeding grounds of mosquitoes, working for source reduction and engaged in an extensive awareness campaign on dengue and malaria. We are working in tandem with the municipal corporation which is undertaking fogging and spray of insecticides to destroy mosquitoes.’’

Joshi further added that the department has sufficient stock of the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ( ELISA) kits for test of dengue.

The department would use services of more than 300 Asha workers and Asha facilitators in the awareness campaign. These workers would tell people that they should not to let water get collected in around their households. They would also advice people to use mosquito repellent creams, nets and wear clothes which cover their body completely to minimise exposure to mosquito bite.

Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito due to the characteristic strips over its body. The presence of this virus is detected by conducting the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test which is the confirmatory test for the disease. The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decrease drastically which may prove fatal for the patient.

Last year, the district health department reported 300 cases of dengue from Dehradun. In the year 2016, dengue affected the population on a large scale as 1434 cases of the disease were reported by the department. The department also reported 39 cases of malaria last year. Incidentally both dengue and malaria are spread by mosquitoes hence the health department undertakes activities to reduce the number of these vectors under the source reduction programme.