Health Dept seeks residents’ help to tackle dengue menace

Karam Prakash

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 1

Once again, dengue mosquito (Aedes aegypti) has begun to spread its tentacles in the Patiala district. If authorties concerned fail to take preventative measures, threat of dengue outbreak looms large. 

Larvae of Aedes aegypti has been found at 5,421 places. The Health Department under its weekly “Dry Day Friday” campaign has intensified anti-dengue activities. 

The department with the help of the NGOs and residents would conduct a mass awareness anti-dengue drive on September 8. According to a report, 6.9 lakh houses have already been inspected so far by the dpeartment. Dengue larvae was detected and destroyed at 5,421 places. Till now, 17 positive cases have been confirmed in the district.

An expert said prevention is better than cure and it applies on dengue virus as well. Dengue larvae takes  around five to seven days to fully breed in fresh stagnant water. Thus if water is cleaned at least once in seven days breeding can be stopped. 

District Epidemiologist Dr Sumeet informed that whenever there was heavy indoor breeding of dengue larvae, outbreak has always taken place. He said health workers were putting in their best efforts, but residents need to understand that such collections should be cleaned by them.

With onset of September, the Health Department has earmarked separate wards to handle positive cases. As many as 30 beds at Government Rajindra Hospital, 20 at Mata Kaushalya and 10 each at three subdivision hospitals, including Samana, Rajpura, and Nabha have been reserved for patients found positive. Apart from this, 10 beds at CHC Tripuri, Model Town and six beds each at Ghanaur and Patran have been reserved. 

Dr Sumeet, said, “The Health Department is fully equipped and ready to tackle any urgency. We have already set up dengue wards.”

Bhupinder Batra, professor, Punjabi University, said, “As responsible humans, we are liable to take care of our health. Unless we keep our surroundings neat and clean, we will continue to suffer from deadly diseases such as dengue, malaria.”

Saravjeet Kaur Virk, a resident of Anand Nagar, said, “Every year Patiala witness high number of positive cases. The administration has no long term solution. Vacant plots are turning into breeding grounds.”

Amrinder Singh, a resident of Sanauri Adda, said, “Officials sometime do not do fogging in all the areas. Fogging should be done at a large scale and cover every nook and corner.”

Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said the hotspot areas were being monitored regularly. He said, “Public is being regularly made aware of controlling measures. In fact, everyone should take care of their house and surroundings.”