CMOH seeks public help to eradicate dengue menace

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

According to the latest statistics of the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry 14,844 dengue cases had been reported from all parts of the country by the end of last month claiming 114 lives. The monstrous disease had gone beyond the control in some areas despite preventive measures taken by the Health Ministry, other health authorities and agencies.

While the Colombo district stands out as the most affected from the dengue outbreak, the Colombo city has recorded the highest number of dengue deaths after 20 deaths were reported from the city during the first eight months of the year.

In June the number of dengue cases reported from the Colombo city stood at 615, the highest number of dengue cases so far reported from Colombo.

Maryann Perera, one of the Sunday Observer readers from Dehiwala in a letter said that the people in Colombo and suburbs are living in great fear since the death toll from dengue is on the increase. She has complained to Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) of the Colombo Municipal Council that the stinking drains, stagnant waters at most poor households in the city have become mosquito breeding grounds.

Explaining the dengue situation in the city Dr. Kariyawasam said that dengue is spreading fast due to intermittent rains in these areas. “In June we had 615 odd cases. Then it came down to 518 in July. But there was an average of 20 to 30 cases per day reported from the Colombo city. During the intermittent rains it will go up again,” he added.

However, he came out with the interesting news that the number of dengue patients in the areas where parapet walls have been demolished has come down drastically.

The parapet walls have been removed from Fort to Dickmans Road including Cinnamon Gardens and Slave Island.

”Last year when there was a serious epidemic in the Slave Island area the Security Forces cleared the entire area leaving no room for dengue. But dengue is spreading in areas such as Borella, Mattakkuliya and Fort. From where more than 80 percent cases have been reported,” he added.

According to Dr. Kariyawasam the Colombo National Hospital square has also been affected by the dengue epidemic.

”Basically it is due to waste management and sanitation problem and uncleaned drains. In some bylanes the garbage disposal is quite poor although it is not so in the main roads. The situation has turned worse due to bare lands, large land masses, slums and shanties left unattended in the city,” he said.

Controlling dengue is not easy because one tea spoon of water is more than enough for the mosquito breeding. The morning showers can also create so many breeding grounds.

Mosquitoes come and lay eggs. Sometimes they remain inactive during dry spells only to re-appear in the next showers. These are the problems we are facing,”, Dr. Kariyawasam said.

Therefore, as a solution he emphasise the need to have a massive clean up campaign within two or three days to eliminate the mosquito breeding grounds.

The Municipality, public sector, private sector, schools and other institutions should get together and have one or two day clean up programs to ensure clean drains, canals, gardens, parks and government and private premises and institutions. Then only we can control the disease," he added.

The epidemic is there because the number of mosquitoes has grown up rapidly.

"We are doing our best to control it, but considering the fact that one female mosquito can lay 300 eggs at a time you can imagine how difficult it is to control it. Specialists also say that two female mosquitoes are enough to spread the disease to 100 people. So controlling the epidemic is surely difficult," he added.

"There are more than 2,000 hospital admissions this year which is a 100 percent increase compare to last year. So we have to end up at 3,500 patients this year," he said.

That is the situation in the Colombo city. The number of deaths is still on the increase in other parts of the Colombo district and in the Western Province.

According to Dr. Kariyawasam one major problem that confronts them is that even the hospitals have become dengue breeding grounds. Those mosquitoes, the vectors spread the disease from the patients to the other people. Patients admitted to hospitals for other disease also contract dengue list they are in hospitals. That was happening in the Colombo National Hospital during the last two to three years and also at the Colombo Lady RidgeWay Hospital. "This is a big problem," he said.

"Not only the CMC others to should do their little bit to control dengue. Unless a natural decline takes place at present it has gone beyond our control. We are, however, doing our best," he added.

To control the mosquito breeding grounds, the CMC has bought 22 new fogging machines, making the total number of fogging machines available with the CMC to 36. "At a meeting had with those operating the fogging machines, I drew their focus to such areas as Borella, Mattakkuliya and Fort where dengue is spreading fart. We are now going from one area to another," he added.

The fogging machines itself cannot solve the problem unless adequate manpower is made available to use them to fume mosquito breading grounds.

"We don't have enough labourers earlier. Luckily we had taken 34 labourers under contract basis. But we need 50 more people. There is a shortage of applicants for this job as it seems to be a very difficult and risky job. When we said that we need people for these fogging machines only 16 people were willing to do it," he added.

"They are asking for a risk allowance. They should be given risk allowance and a proper meal because the chemicals they are exposed to are very toxic and can absorbed into their skin. That sometimes can stop the nerve conduction and it affects the heart that and that is the end of it," he said.

"Most of the people prefer fogging. But fogging is not the answer because it damages the environment. They must get rid of the breeding places, solid waste and fill the tree holes with sand, repair the tiny holes in your balconies and on the concrete slabs which are used as roof tops. These are the things that you can easily do," he said.

"Get rid of the plants where the water collects. Some people have ten to twenty banana trees in their tiny plots of lands in the city. Please have two or four but no 10 or 20. Banana trees are grown together and it make the places dark and the mosquitoes hide in these places when the rain water get mixed in the banana leaves which is a good breeding ground for mosquitoes," he added.

"So we should all get together and work towards cleaning the mosquito breeding grounds to free the city from the dengue epidemic," he said.