Anti-malaria, anti-dengue awareness camps from next week

With the onset of monsoon, here comes the precautionary warning of vector borne diseases like dengue and malaria which pose severe threat against healthy living.

The District Health Department is on warfront to initiate protective measures to handle the probable threat of increasing number of cases of both malaria and dengue in the district.

District Health Officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy told Deccan Herald that it is the responsibility of every individual to take up protective measures to prevent vector borne diseases. The department has taken up preliminary steps to initiate anti malaria and anti dengue programmes actively from next week onwards as the monsoon is expected soon.
Everyone should keep their surrounding clean and hygienic, he stressed. 

The district has reported as many as 547 malaria cases from January to April 30 as against 2,213 cases reported in 2012. Around 25 dengue cases are reported till April 30 in contrast to around 132 cases reported in the district last year.

The high risk area in the district mainly comprises of migratory labourers among whom the malaria and dengue cases are high. The DHO said people working in construction sites, factories and stone quarries are highly prone to the risk of infection with the water borne diseases.

He said the migratory workers who come from Odisha and North Karnataka regions make their living in a totally polluted environment. These labourers are not only habituated in urban areas, but they are also now located in semi urban and rural areas. These areas are identified as high risk areas where active surveillance programmes are taken up, he said.

The high risk areas where maximum number of malaria and dengue cases are reported in the district include Udupi municipal area, a part of Malpe, Heerebettu and Heeriyadka, Brahmavar, Padubidri and Karkala municipal area.

The DHO added that malaria was limited only to rural areas earlier, however recently it has also extended towards urban areas.

The DHO said the anti malaria and anti dengue programmes will be continued till October as there is every possibility of rise in the number of cases that are reported.
The tender coconut shells, bottles, ice cream cups, thrown away pots are some of the breeding centers of mosquitoes. He added that all the municipal houses and Gram Panchayats should actively campaign against vector borne diseases.

The programmes comprises of fever surveillance taken up in parallel for both malaria and dengue, blood smear tests and diagnosis, laboratory treatments, measures for source reduction, house to house health education and awareness over personal protection. People are asked to put up mosquito nets and keep windows closed in order to prevent mosquitoes from entering the houses, he said.