Dengue awareness drive in DJ Halli

Health inspectors of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday found large deposits of mosquito larvae on fresh water, mainly on the top of stored water in large tanks and sumps at 99 places in Devarajeevanahalli (DJ Halli).

This is one of the main reasons why the area has many suspected dengue cases, said Dr Suresh, one of the health inspectors of the 12 healthcare teams that visited nearly 2,507 houses in the area in an effort to create awareness about dengue.

“Most of the residents store water in big tanks inside their houses for more than a week. Most of these tanks that are kept open  become breeding grounds for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which spread dengue fever,” he said.

During their visit, health inspectors also stumbled upon 15 cases of viral fever.

Blood test

Dr Suresh suggested that the patients undergo blood tests for suspected dengue fever.
He said the maximum number of dengue cases were reported in DJ Halli.

The health teams emptied water stored for days in tanks and instructed people to not keep water in tanks for more than a week.

Maintain cleanliness

They also distributed bleaching power to residents to keep the surroundings clean, and conducted machine spraying to kill larvae deposits on water.

Similar awareness campaigns will be conducted in different parts of the City, as the number of dengue cases has been on the rise, the inspectors said.

The health department plans a meeting of doctors and general practioners from private hospitals and clinics with government doctors on Thursday to chalk out a standard protocol to treat dengue cases.

According to Health Commissioner Anjum Pervez, there is a big difference between the procedure followed by private doctors and government doctors in handling dengue fever cases.