State

Health department gears up for dengue challenge

An awareness campaign on the vector borne disease would start from April 15 in Dehradun

Sunday, 10 April | PNS | Dehradun

With the onset of summers, the Health department of Uttarakhand has started gearing up to meet the challenge of Dengue which is a mosquito borne disease and usually hits the state during the monsoon season. The health department of Dehradun has already started the process to identify the potential breeding grounds of mosquitoes in the localities with high incidence of the disease. The district vector borne diseases officer of Dehradun, Subhash Joshi told The Pioneer that the fogging has already started in some areas.  He said that the department would start an awareness campaign from April 15. He said that during the campaign the Asha workers would visit the colonies and localities and inform about ways of preventing dengue. With the start of the rainy season the department has made a plan for extensive fogging and source reduction exercise. It is pertinent to mention here that last year 126 cases of dengue were reported from Dehradun.

Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito.  The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes, headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decreases drastically which may prove fatal for the patient.  In Uttarakhand the disease is more prevalent in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.  

Ways to prevent Dengue

1 Don’t allow water to collect in and near houses.

2 Regularly decant fridges, coolers, pots or cans. 

3 Spread kerosene or other oils over small water bodies to destroy the larvae of the Aedes mosquito.  

4 Inform the district authorities about the fogging to kill mosquitoes.

5. The Aedes mosquito strikes during day time and flies near ground level so wear full sleeved clothes at work places. 

6 Immediately seek medical advice when someone develops fever.

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