With the advent of monsoon in the city, the health department of the Delhi government has geared up to fight against the vector-borne diseases. As per the information, the health department has decided to designate a nodal officer at all the offices and institutes in the national capital to review the measures taken for preventing the outbreak of dengue and other vector-borne diseases.
“All offices would designate a nodal officer responsible to carry out vector-borne control related activities. The contact number of the designated nodal officer would be put up at prominent spots in the offices and the persons with any concerns on cleanliness in the buildings/offices would be able to communicate with the officer,” said an official in the health department in Delhi government.
The decision in this regard was taken in a review meeting chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor at his office last week. Delhi News
The monsoon season is yet to arrive fully in the city but more than a half dozen of fresh cases of malaria have been reported in the last couple of weeks in Delhi. The total number of persons affected by the vector-borne disease is 46 this session.
As per the reports collected from municipal authorities, of 25 malaria cases were reported in the month of June while it was17 in May. The number of malaria cases reported between February to March was in single digit.
Reports suggested that as many as 30 dengue cases were reported this session in the city and three of them were reported in June. Apart from these, two fresh cases of Chikungunya have also been reported in the last week of June taking the total to 16.
“Both dengue and malaria have different carriers and therefore it is not unusual for malaria cases to be reported in larger number as compared to dengue,” said a doctor in LNJP hospital.
The doctor further said, “People must take all precautions like wearing full-sleeve clothes and not allowing breeding of mosquitoes inside their homes. Water coolers should be dried up when it is not in use because dengue mosquitoes breed there.”
Three municipal authorities (North MCD, EDMC and SDMC) have claimed to have found breeding of mosquitoes in 42,547 households in the city till June 30. The municipal bodies also claimed that more than 48,000 legal notices have been issued to households, government offices and marketplaces etc.
As per a report, 10 people had died due to dengue in Delhi last year. Five victims were from out of Delhi but admitted in government-run hospitals in the national capital. Based on the reports released by government-run hospitals, the vector-borne disease has affected nearly 10,000 people in the city last year.
