Faridkot district witnesses decline in dengue cases

132 patients test positive for disease this year; number was 971 in 2018

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 20

The district has witnessed a significant decline in the number of dengue cases this year. Last year, as many as 971 cases of dengue were reported from the district till November 19. This year, the number is 132 in the corresponding time.

Last year, the dengue outbreak had reached an alarming scale in Kotkapura. It even affected attendance in schools and offices.

While dengue cases had crossed over a 700-mark in 2018 in Kotkapura, these are limited to 74 this time.

The Health Department is euphoric that its intensive campaign of five months brought positive results in containing dengue in the area.

To control the diseases at an initial stage, the Health Department had constituted three teams in Faridkot, Kotkapura and Jaito block. The maximum number of members — 13 — were included in the Kotkapura team.

“The Health Department had initiated a door-to-door survey to detect larva and mosquitoes in May. The survey teams had visited 95,012 houses and found 874 dengue larvae,” said Dr Anita, district epidemiologist.

“During the survey of 95,012 houses, Health Department teams had examined 2,67,269 water containers,” said Dr Rajinder Kumar, Civil Surgeon, Faridkot.

“Our teams made their best efforts to educate the masses about the causes of dengue and its prevention. We tried our best to convey the people that storing water in any open-cover container carries high risk of proving a congenial surrounding for the dengue mosquito. Besides, any person who is negligent in storing water is not exposing himself to dengue but also the people living in his vicinity,” said Dr Anita.

The Health Department has challaned 240 persons who were not careful in storing water, exposing themselves and others to the threat of dengue.

High prevalence of the mosquito-borne infection is noticed more in congested residential areas.

As dark, damp and stagnant water provides most congenial conditions for the multiplication of dengue, congested houses in the interior of in Kotkapura is the ideal breeding place for dengue.