With one death, reportedly due to dengue, in Haridwar district and the number of the afflicted crossing 1,000 mark in the State, the health authorities seem to have swung into some action in the district. The district malaria team led by the city health officer and district malaria officer on Friday reached the house of the one who died of the vector-borne disease on late Thursday night.
The condition of Narendra Agarwal of Kankhal who was being treated at a private hospital based in the city had deteriorated last Sunday. The nephew of the victim Achin Agarwal told ‘The Pioneer’ on Friday, “The doctors advised us to take him home and give complete rest. He died last night at home.”
District vector-borne disease officer Gurnam Singh said, "Dengue was detected in rapid test dengue. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether Agarwal died of Dengue. True, larvae of mosquito were found in the water accumulated at the back of refrigerator kept in the house which were destroyed. Our team sprayed areas around the house as well."
Haridwar like other districts of the state has been reeling under the vector- borne diseases like Chikungunya and Dengue. Things are turning grim with monsoon prolonging this season. The children and the elderly are the most vulnerable, say the doctors. The number of the afflicted has risen in one day from 51 to 123.
The Kankhal mohalla is the most affected in the district on account of narrow lanes and temples visited by hundreds daily. What is alarming is that no worthwhile measure has been taken so far to clean the open drains. The showers are compounding things. Panic is spreading with the health department sitting on things turning grimmer daily.
To add to the alarm of the people, pass the buck game is continuing with the health department slamming the Nagar Nigam for not maintaining sanitation and hygiene in the city and the latter choosing to be indifferent.
City mayor Manoj Garg said, “We are trying our best to lift the garbage from the lanes but the people must also take precautions and not allow mosquitoes to breed in stagnant water around their homes. The water should not be made to collect in bath tubs or flower pots in the houses.”
Knowledge about the causal factor is the best prevention, say the medical practitioners. The virus of dengue spreads through Aedes mosquito and to avoid bites, one must wear full sleeve clothes aside from keeping one’s surroundings clean, they insist.