Be Careful Vizag – It’s Dengue Season!

Even as the city welcomes the cool showers of monsoon, municipality and health officials dread the host of problems that piggyback along. Ailments like dengue, malaria, typhoid, parasites and viruses like rotavirus are highly active amongst the innumerable others thrive in the monsoons. Visakhapatnam district has reported an alarming rise in dengue cases this year, with 670 positive cases since January. As many as 278 positive cases were reported in September alone, till date, and majority of them were from urban areas, including some posh localities in the city.

Additional to mosquito menace, the incessant rains made the city a mosquito breeding ground, with the water stagnation remaining an issue. The most basic requirement to stem the spread is to keep the surroundings clean. First and foremost maintain proper levels of hygiene inside and outside the house. Make sure that any waste or garbage is well covered and disposed off regularly. Ensure that there are no puddles or pools of water in or around the house. To prevent the stagnation of water and simultaneously restore the water table, Rain-Water-Harvesting is a proactive and practical approach. If properly executed, rainwater harvesting relieves water stagnation, diverts the water getting wasted, raises the ground water level and prevents seawater from contaminating the drinking ground water supply. It is crucial to ensure that the harvested rainwater is not allowed to remain in open tanks, barrels or tubs, but is instantly diverted to a closed tank or directly into the earth. Mosquitoes cannot breed in flowing water, but still waters are the perfect breeding tanks.

As a part of their duty, government has taken various measures to put dengue at bay. The district administration has launched various initiatives to check the spread of the disease. “The situation is under control now as we have strengthened the IEC activities to make the citizens aware. Vector control measures are also being undertaken. A door-to-door campaign is also under way to identify the patients with dengue symptoms. The hospitals are well prepared to treat the cases,” said collector Pravin Kumar.

Be Safe Vizag!