Concerned over increasing cases of vector-borne diseases and some cases of dengue surfacing in the district the health department has sounded alert. In this year so far 17 cases of Japanese Encephalitis while one case for dengue has been reported.
The East Singhbhum district health department has decided to embark on the outdoor awareness campaigns. As part of the campaign, huge hording educating the people will be placed at strategic locations in the city.
The hoardings informing about symptoms of dengue like high fever and pain in body joints and simple preventive methods which can be undertaken to prevent breeding of vector carrying dengue virus would soon come up in city.
“We would be carrying out awareness in Hindi and Santhali to help spreading information. We need to understand that mosquitoes that carry the virus of dengue do not come from outside, rather they generate from the household things like flower-pots, coolers water, rejected tyre kept on the roof top or in the corner of the garden. So we must educate people that there is no such place where water is stagnant for sometime,” said ,” district civil surgeon Jagat Bhusan Prasad.
Considering the high number of Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases detected in the city so far the department has also decided to take out hoardings specifically for JE. JE is a vector borne viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes after feeding on infected animals such as pigs and wild birds in the agriculture field.
The department which earlier used to only spray larvicidal apart from undertaking cleanliness exercise will be opting for destroying unused containers (identified vector breeding centers) in the affected areas and educating people on not allowing water to stagnate in residential areas. This exercise would be held simultaneously with routine methods of spraying larvicidal in the area.
From district health department records, in the year 2010, over 10,000 viral cases were reported in the district in the monsoon period while there were four deaths due to dengue. The figure rose to 16,000 in 2011, mostly from chikungunya and dengue, with one death due to dengue. In 2012 there were around 8,000 viral cases in the city.
The local residents said that though the district health department took initiative to curb the menace but again the diseases has shot up making the life difficult for the people.
Manoj Hansda, a social worker said that their the administration lacks will to work in the fringe areas due to which the situation is far from safe.“I think immediate steps need to be taken to control the menace. The health department needs to spread awareness in the villages and necessary medicines should be distributed” he noted.