With the monsoon increasing the risk of mosquito breeding, health authorities in the southern districts of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari are focused on source reduction, creating public awareness and surveillance to prevent rise in dengue cases.
Although the number of cases reported were relatively high between June and July in districts such as Kanniyakumari and Thoothukudi, they have declined since then. Regular inspections by Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBC), fogging operations and community awareness activities have been among the key measures adopted to control mosquito breeding and contain the spread of disease, officials said.
Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Nagercoil Corporations have deployed hundreds of workers to identify and eliminate dengue mosquito breeding sources and carry out anti-larval activities.
Staff of Tirunelveli Corporation spray insecticide in the city. | Photo Credit: A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN
Tirunelveli Corporation has deployed 506 DBC teams under 11 Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) across its 55 wards. Thoothukudi Corporation has deployed 212 DBC teams across its 60 wards and 318 have been deployed across 52 wards of Nagercoil.
The workers have been instructed to conduct regular inspections of houses, hotels and commercial establishments to identify mosquito breeding sites and undertake anti-larval activities.
“If fever cases are reported in abnormal numbers, our DBC teams and Rapid Response Teams visit the area immediately and start their inspection. While the DBC teams check for mosquito breeding spots, the RRT search for more fever cases, if any, from the particular place. If the new fever cases, who are mostly under self medication, are spotted, they are immediately taken to the nearby urban primary health centre or Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for proper clinical investigation to fix the right line of medical treatment,” said Balasubramanian, City Health Officer (CHO).
While Thoothukudi Corporation is planning to increase the number of DBCs. Corporation Commissioner S. Priyanka says the local body has been planning to procure additional 300 DBCs for the coming months.
Apart from identifying mosquito breeding sites, anti-larval activity has also been intensified, along with regular fogging and other preventive measures.
Since the discarded plastic or rubber wastes such as tyres facilitate mosquito breeding as they collect water even during a drizzle, Tirunelveli Corporation has intensified its drive to collect the segregated garbage from residences.
Tirunelveli Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana says residents gave been asked to hand over the waste only after segregating them into degradable, non-degradable and medical wastes, which will make solid waste management work much easier.
As part of the dengue prevention measures, Nagercoil Corporation has been undertaking various activities including meetings with hostel managements and representatives to maintain hygienic conditions, preventing mosquito breeding and strengthening disease surveillance in hostels.
Kanniyakumari has 1,317 DBCs comprising 318 in Nagercoil Corporation, 136 in four municipalities, 636 in town panchayats and 227 in village panchayats of the district.
Collector M. Prathap has said the local bodies have been instructed to intensify fogging considering the district’s high population density. Notices have been issued to vacant land owners on prevention of dengue mosquito breeding and scrub typhus.
“The Domestic Breeding Checks have been instructed to inspect at least 150 houses a day. Mass cleaning activities are also being carried out villages and the district administration has procured 25 new fogging machines for town and village panchayats in the district,” Mr. Prathap adds.
Anti-dengue measures by Thoothukudi Corporation under way on Sunday. | Photo Credit: N, RAJESH
In Thoothukudi district, the Health department has mapped hotspot areas and categorised them. Domestic Breeding Checkers and fever survey teams visit the priority areas and do antilarval measures, along with fogging and other preventive measures. A total of 896 Domestic Breeding Checkers have been deployed for this purpose.
Thoothukudi Collector Vishu Mahajan says local bodies had been instructed to supply chlorinated water with 2 ppm chlorine level at source and 0.5 ppm at supply end. Dedicated wards have been established at government hospitals for treatment of dengue, while Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital (TKGMCH) lab declares dengue ELISA NS1 and IgM blood test results within 24 hours.
Collector Anand Mohan says 1,000-odd DBCs have been deployed across the district to check water storage points, including ground-level or overhead tanks in homes, for dengue larva.
Only five dengue cases, including two patients with travel history, have been reported in Tirunelveli district so far since September. Even though there is no spurt in cases and no hotspot has been reported from any part of the district, there is no lax in the ongoing inspection. In fact, the inspection has been intensified with the DBCs inspecting the houses repeatedly.
According to Tenkasi Collector Ranjeet Singh, the number of Domestic Breeding Checkers has increased from 781 to 1,550 across all Village Panchayats, Town Panchayats and Municipalities. The enhancement has enabled intensive household inspections, identification and elimination of mosquito breeding sites, and focused monitoring of high-risk areas.
A total of 1,039 dengue prevention medical campaigns have been conducted across Tenkasi district, benefiting 27,190 people. The campaigns focused on creating public awareness about dengue prevention, eliminating stagnant water and mosquito breeding sources, promoting personal protective measures, encouraging early reporting of fever, and strengthening community participation in dengue control activities.
(with inputs from P. Sudhakar)