Officials set to fight dengue-causing Aedes mosquito

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Officials set to fight dengue-causing Aedes mosquito
Tripti Nath
Tribune News Service
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070313/delhi.htm#6

New Delhi, March 12



The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) of the Health Ministry does not want to take any chances with the dengue-causing Aedes Aegypti mosquito this year.



Having grappled with the last year?s nationwide dengue toll of 167 and a caseload of 11,000, the NVBDCP has invited world authorities on dengue management to develop a standardised protocol for dengue management for India.


Dengue is a viral disease transmitted by the infective bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.



It occurs in two forms?Dengue Fever and Dengue Hamemorrhagic Fever (DHF). While denguee fever is a severe flu like illness, DHF is a more severe form of disease which may cause death.


NVBDCP Director, Dr P.L. Joshi told TNS here on Monday that Suchitra Nimayate, a well-known clinician from Thailand and Duan Gubler, a world renowned authority on dengue management, from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hawai University, are attending a two-day conference beginning Wednesday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).


He said that the conference will afford clinicians from thirty hospitals in Delhi and some dengue-endemic states to discuss best practices on management of dengue.


Apart from this, the NVBDCP has also put in place a long-term dengue action plan which lays emphasis on proactive surveillance during the inter-epidemic period.


Dr Joshi explained that although the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeds throughout the year, cases of dengue are reported during the peak season post-monsoon.



The dengue causing mosquito breeds in desert coolers, drums, jars, pots, flower vases, tanks, tyres, gutters, refrigerator drip pans, cement blocks, coconut shells, bamboo stumps and many more places where rainwater collects or is stored.


The dengue action plan also entails inter-sectoral cooperation with other ministries to manage dengue.



To drive home the message that dengue management is everybody?s responsibility, the NVBDCP has urged state governments to make civic and construction bylaws on the lines of the Bombay Corporation bylaws to ensure prevention of mosquitogenic conditions in buildings.


The NVBDCP Director said that they have held consultations on dengue management with the ministries of Urban Development and Rural Development.


He said that the National Rural Health Mission provides money to village health sanitation committees to ensure prevention of dengue.


As part of the dengue action plan, the NVBDCP has recommended creation of apex reference laboratories for advance diagnosis of dengue, chikungunga and other vector-borne viral diseases.


It has also suggested a dengue emergency hospital management plan and an awareness campaign.