Heavy rains and a general lack of awareness have the health department on edge as the district, which made the news last year for finishing second in dengue cases, is once more preparing to tackle the dengue threat.
Even though health officials claimed to have started fighting dengue and chikungunya, the district had seen up to 43 dengue cases and nine malaria cases. However, the district had not yet reported any cases of chikungunya.
The overall number of infections in the city has increased to 108 as a result of new dengue cases being recorded in the district.
Four of the new cases came from rural areas, and six from cities. Three instances from Patiala city and the others from councils have been reported in urban areas.
The Patiala Health Department has been emphasising the identification of dengue larvae and the application of larvicide in addition to conducting dengue dry day activities to check for water stagnation throughout the district.
Dr Sumeet, an epidemiologist, reported today that the district had seen a rise in dengue mosquito bites.
We have been alerting the Municipal Corporation to conduct activities for fogging the entire city. Along with wearing insect repellent, people are urged to wear full sleeves.
We are fogging the city, according to Municipal Health Officer Jasveer Kaur. The Corporation owns 25 handheld devices in addition to 3 other mounted on-vehicle units. Along with that, we’re locating hotspots and performing special fogging operations there.
The change in season is causing a significant rise in dengue cases in the city, according to Dr Prashant Bhatt, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine at Manipal Hospitals. It is a disease that travels through vectors and is contracted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Because this mosquito is more active in the morning and evening, the risk factors are increased. People should keep their surroundings clean and dry.
Additionally, they should refrain from donning short sleeves. Furthermore, because they frequently go outside to play, kids are more at risk.
Because Patran alone has recorded 18 cases of dengue, the urban area and the Patran sub-division of the district are more susceptible to increased dengue cases.
More than 250 probable dengue cases are being investigated, according to information gathered from health officials, and findings are pending. Samples from the suspected patients are collected for examination at PGI Chandigarh and a government-recognized laboratory.
As part of its campaign to combat dengue, the department began raising awareness among schools and colleges on Friday. School staff members are also taking part in the campaign.
After Patiala saw a high number of dengue and chikungunya cases the previous year, the health department concentrated on raising public awareness of vector-borne diseases. By resolving to place fogging equipment in each ward, the Patiala Municipal Corporation (PMC) also joined forces to combat the dengue threat.
Residents who fail to follow the corporation’s and the health officials’ orders to clean their surroundings and the containers or coolers in their homes or businesses will also be subject to fines.
Around 204 defaulting residents have received fines from the officials in the past one-and-a-half months alone.
“Wherever we find the larva in residents’ or store owners’ coolers or containers, we are finding them. Dengue instances are increasing, but they are still relatively few compared to the previous year. We are also having meetings with the council members. I collected the reports from every SMO assigned to a sub-division.
A significant number of instances of malaria and other vector-borne illnesses were reported last year, along with approximately 2400 dengue cases and 110 cases of chikungunya.
However, sources revealed that this number was underreported. The Patiala health authorities claim there were only two dengue-related deaths last year.