Dengue continues taking its toll

It�s upsetting to note that how despite penning repeated warnings, the Dengue situation is worsening by the hours. According to DGHS sources, as many as 234 people were diagnosed with the lethal fever as of last Thursday. Some 1,300 Dengue patients are being treated at different hospitals in the country. Moreover, Dengue has already claimed 57 lives in the past three months.

The point, however, if the situation continues without intervention, there are enough reasons to fear that we may have to witness a similar health disaster similar to that of 2019, when 1, 01,354 cases and 179 deaths had been recorded. Prior and during the monsoon season we had penned three separate editorials on tackling the deadly fever , sadly enough our set of warnings and recommendations have fallen into deaf ears.

We believe, most of these untimed and unwarranted deaths could have been averted. And we also believe city corporation authorities must shoulder the fair share of blame for noticeably failing to protect our city - dwellers. Now with the rainy season almost on its end, once again it is time to buckle up efforts to wipe out the Dengue menace from the city.
Most importantly, our doctors are struggling to treat patients infected with both Covid-19 and Dengue , since anti-coagulants used for a Coronavirus patient cannot be used for a dengue patient with a platelet count of under 100 , 000. Needless to say, the prevalence of both viruses will result in more fatalities. Once again our city corporation authorities coupled with active participation of city - dwellers must ensure all breeding grounds for the deadly Aedes Mosquitoes are decimated. Two together must make sure there are no receptacles with stagnant water.

Water stored for household use must be changed at least once every two days, since the particular mosquito can breed even in clean water. We urge the two city corporations of the capital to continue their awareness campaigns and to keep spraying adulticide and larvicide in hospitals and in and around Dengue patients' homes.

Last of all, in order to prevent a potential outbreak, it is important to train up nurses and medics to have proper training in Dengue diagnosis and treatment. Also important is to line up instruments that help detecting the disease.

The scaring fact - seemingly Dengue is now turned endemic - meaning to be with us round the year. Thus, there is no room to remain complacent by taking the deadly fever as a seasonal disease. We will have to combat the Coronavirus and Dengue fever together, not separately.