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Dengue & Chikungunya in Delhi can be checked but only if the authorities tried

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At the time of writing the article, Dengue had already killed 11 and affected around 2000 in Delhi this year. It is expected to rise further, as the months of September and October are considered as the peak season for vector-borne diseases.

Dengue is an endemic arboreal infection which affects the tropical and the subtropical regions around the world, predominantly the urban and the semi-urban areas.

This year Delhi is suffering from a double whammy- Dengue & Chikungunya. Aedesaegypti mosquito transmits both the Dengue and the Chikungunya virus. Chances of co-infection are higher if the mosquito carries both the viruses and therefore the problem of co-infection is more pronounced in areas where both these viruses cocirculate.

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As there is no licensed vaccine for dengue, vector control is the major measure adopted to control disease transmission.

The control of dengue and chikungunya in tropical countries is mainly achieved through surveillance for Ae. Aegypti and Ae. alb op ictus larvae and eliminating breeding sites with the attendant use of insecticides and public education.

Larval control efforts invariably focus on freshwater breeding sites of the two mosquito species near human habitations.

Delhi can learn from the experience the of Sri Lanka in controlling dengue. Recently Srilanka was declared Malaria free country. In Jaffna for example, as dengue is a major public health problem, a risk map was worked out to prioritize the resources and to conduct public awareness programs to control the disease. Geographic information systems (GIS) coupled with remote sensing is a powerful and effective tool to combine many factors that are considered to be associated with dengue transmission, and to assess the cumulative impact of these factors to create risk maps. Jaffna has been able to effectively able to control dengue.

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Delhi needs to have well planned and budgeted control programs, supervised by well trained professional personnel are necessary. Control of dengue & chikungunya can be achieved by an integration of chemical and biological measures and better coordination between Delhi Govt, three municipal corporations & NDMC and public in carrying out environmental measures to reduce breeding sources.

The costs involved in prevention are less than those of hospitalization, medical treatment, lost labor, death and illness that results from doing nothing or doing it poorly.

Mortality from dengue can be reduced to almost zero by implementing timely, appropriate clinical management, which involves early clinical and laboratory diagnosis, intravenous rehydration, staff training and hospital reorganization.

But the authorities have been found wanting year after year without any clear plan, strategy and regular coordination amongst themselves {Delhi government, three municipal corporations & NDMC. It needs to change as Delhi’s tax-paying citizens cannot continue to suffer because of apathy, negligence, and poor governance.

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(The Author is NewsMobile iJourno and a civil servant. He is a post-graduate from St Stephen’s College and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Public Administration and National Institute of Financial Management and writes on governance issues)

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