Mangaluru: Despite all the precautionary measures, the number of dengue cases reported have been increasing day-by-day in the Dakshina Kannada district. A total of 482 cases have been reported in Dakshina Kannada district of which a large share is from Mangaluru taluk alone.
A total of four persons have lost their life to this disease so far. The first death reported was that of Kadaba resident Veena Nayak (45) in the first week of July. Later, 13-year-old Shraddha K Shetty of Gujjarakere, 10-year-old boy Krush of Kodialbail were also reported dead due to dengue. The fourth and last death was that of Nagesh of Padu (34), a video journalist from Padu village in Neermarga, a few days ago. Unfortunately, Nagesh had been to Gujjarakere along with other three mediapersons to cover the large number of dengue cases reported here. Unfortunately, all the four mediapersons were infected with dengue. While three of them recuperated after treatment, Nagesh succumbed.
When there was a spike in dengue cases, the officials of district administration, health department, Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) swung into action and started engaging in source reduction in dengue prone areas like Gujjarakere, Emmekere, Jeppu, Morgansgate, Kadri among other areas. Meanwhile, the Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner formed a total of 200 teams of three members each including a health worker. The officials were asked to visit the houses and educate the people on the necessity of source reduction in order to curb the cases of dengue.
The officials of MCC went one step ahead by visiting houses and imposing penalty on those who didn’t keep their surroundings clean. Some shop owners were forced to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000 for breeding mosquito in their premises. Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil strictly ordered the officials not to show any leniency to those who breed mosquitoes in their premises and impose huge amount of penalty on them.
In addition to that, the district administration has announced that it would organise a ‘Dengue Drive Day’ on Sunday, July 28, wherein all the people are asked to spare at least one hour to clean their surroundings including clearing stagnant water to prevent the disease. Officials from the district administration, health department, MCC would also participate in this programme in order to create awareness on cleanliness. District administration has sought the support of educational institutions, NGOs and other institutions also to the ‘Dengue Drive Day’ programme.
What is Dengue fever?
Dengue fever is an infection by a virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito.
Symptoms of Dengue fever
* High fever
* Headache
* Skin rash
*Joint and muscle pain
* Nausea and vomiting
* Pain behind the eyes
Do you know this?
* Dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever are the most common mosquito borne viral diseases in the world.
* If you get a second dengue infection, it can get worse as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome which can be fatal.
Characteristics of the Aedes mosquito
* It bites during the day
* It lays its eggs in clean, shady, stagnant water
* One distinct physical feature- black and white stripes on its body and legs
Do you know?
* Only the female Aedes mosquitoes feed on blood. This is because they need the protein found in blood to produce eggs. Male mosquitoes feed only on plant nectar
* On average, a female Aedes mosquito can lay about 300 eggs during her life span of 14 to 21 days
Prevent Aedes from breeding
* Remove all sources of stagnant water
* Deny the Aedes mosquito any chance to breed
Five easy safety steps
* Change water in vases/bowls every other day
* Add sand granular insecticide to water
* Remove water from flower pot plates every other day
* Turn over all storage containers
* Inform your parents or any adults in your household to clear blockages and put insecticide in roof gutters at least once a month
How to prevent mosquitoes from having a feast on you?
* Wear shoes, socks, long pants and long
* Sleeved shirt
* Use mosquito repellents
* Mosquito coils
* Mosquito nets
