Public Support Essential to Prevent Dengue, Says Coimbatore Collector

District Collector of Coimbatore SA Raman has said that the district administration is taking various necessary steps to eradicate dengue in the district and public support is essential to prevent spread of the mosquito-borne disease there. Notably, the region has seen a spike in mosquito-borne cases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya in recent times.

One of the fastest emerging pandemic-prone viral disease around the world, dengue flourishes in urban poor areas and in tropical and subtropical countries. The mosquito-borne viral infection causes severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue, which was first recognized in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand.

According to Raman, various awareness programmes and sanitation works was being carried by the health department and civic bodies to combat the effect of dengue. However, despite various awareness programmes from 2008, many still continue to discard unused materials like coconut shells in the open which cause water stagnation and the rise of dengue.

Raman further said that inter-departmental meetings have been held and each block medical officers has been instructed to conduct two medical camps daily.

Salem Corporation Commissioner R.Sadheesh too on Tuesday inspected dengue prevention works being carried out in Kondalampatti zone here.

Following inspection he advised the public to allow field and conservancy workers to check their residences for mosquitoes or mosquito breeding areas. He warned that fines would be imposed on residents who do not allow the field workers with proper IDs to visit their residences.

Notably, once the dengue mosquito infects humans, they become the main carriers and multipliers of the virus, serving as the source for uninfected mosquitoes.

The virus circulates in the blood for 2-7 days, at approximately the same time that the person develops a fever.

While in humans, people recovering from dengue infection get lifelong immunity against that particular virus serotype. However, this only gives partial and transient protection against subsequent infection by the other three serotypes of the virus.