Spurt in dengue cases in BBN, Parwanoo

Tribune News Service

Solan, October 1

A sudden spurt in the dengue cases has been registered in the industrial belts of Parwanoo and Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) in the last about a week.

Out of the 566 tests conducted in Parwanoo and the BBN area in the last few days, as many as 89 people have tested positive for dengue, said District Programme Officer Dr Ajay Singh.

He said intensive surveillance activities were underway in these vulnerable industrial belts by social health activists and anganwadi workers.

A slew of activities, involving environmental sanitisation and creating awareness, have been initiated at vulnerable places like Taksal village in Parwanoo, where several cases were reported.

The health workers have been directed to monitor the vulnerable households by taking into account various environmental parameters. People are being advised to use ginger, neem and eucalyptus spray outside their houses to contain mosquitoes from breeding. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease.

He said an upsurge is registered after every three or four years in the number of dengue cases. Since the stretch from Parwanoo to Soghi on the national highway offers a congenial atmosphere for the dengue egg to survive for months, surveillance and awareness is important. An advisory has already been issued to the civic authorities since March-April regarding its outbreak and the precautionary steps to be initiated.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajan Uppal said information, education and communication activities had been initiated with the help of the civic authorities in the urban areas and panchyati raj institutions in the rural areas. He said dengue cases had surfaced after Covid-19 cases registered a decline in the district.

Since dengue cases had caused havoc in these bordering industrial belts in 2018 too, the health authorities are on their toes.