Dengue Control Week
By Carol Aloysius
To avert a possible dengue outbreak in the next three months, when the number of
mosquito breeding sites are likely to surge with the monsoon rains, the Dengue
Control Unit of the Health Ministry will launch an island-wide Dengue Control
Week starting on Tuesday, September 27 to Monday, October 3.
Director, Dengue Control, Unit, Dr A.R. M. Thowfeek said that if the usual
weather patterns prevail, the number of breeding sites for the dengue carrying
Aedes Aegypti mosquito would soar, especially in crowded urban areas with
unclean environments where the mosquito population is usually dense.
“To avoid this we will start our program ahead of the monsoons and eliminate as
many breeding sites as possible,” he told the Sunday Observer.
Dr. Thowfeek said mosquito control activities will be carried out on all seven
days of the week, with Sunday being reserved for community participation on a
shramadana basis.
On the other six days officers will visit certain sites selected as priority
areas by medical officers and public health officers in those areas. He said
schools and government buildings as well as places of religious worship would be
the focus of these activities.
Suspected dengue cases reported to the Epidemiology Unit by September 24 is
41,173, which is nearly 10,000 more than the number of suspected dengue cases
for the whole of last year. The highest number of cases this year was in July
when the numbers surged from 4,730 to 10,636, following heavy floods with short
bursts of sunshine, resulting in thousands of new mosquito breeding sites in
affected areas. |