Re: Sri Lanka 2011: Dengue, 93 fatalities - Fatalities numbers no longer being released
Re: Sri Lanka 2011: Dengue, 93 fatalities - Fatalities numbers no longer being released
Dengue cases reach 13,000 mark leaving 100 dead
By Carol Aloysius
The cumulative number of dengue cases has now zoomed to 13,000 leaving 100 dead from the most virulent form of the disease, Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF).
?There?s no doubt we?re in the midst of one of the worst dengue epidemics, under 2nd Wave of Influenza. Like every new wave of this influenza, this new wave is more virulent than previous ones. However we are doing our best to control its spread and have the necessary technical know- how and medicines at present to meet this new challenge?, Epidemiology sources told The Nation.
Colombo district due to its large population continues to lead the rest of the island?s districts in the number of dengue cases and deaths, with nearly 5.000 cases and 44 deaths so far.
The congested Colombo Municipal area with its teeming shanty population living in polluted environments that attract the dengue vector had 1805 cumulative number of dengue cases with 18 deaths, the majority being children under five years. ?Eighty percent of the cases and deaths are from North Colombo in areas such as Maligawatte, Borella, Wanathamulla, Baseline road , Narahenpitiya, which are the most polluted areas in the city, due to poor solid waste removal, and construction work. ? Casual labourers engaged at these construction sites leave behind them , basins and buckets which collect rain water providing breeding sites for the dengue mosquito?, Dr Pradeep Kariyawasam, Chief Medical Officer , Colombo Municipal Council told The Nation. ?Most dengue patients from Maligawatte we found had contracted dengue in this manner.?
?Dengue is a ?small container disease?, and the dengue vector can fly only 150 yards. So it is important that everyone maintains a garden free of yoghurt cups, empty bottles, coconut shells, lunch sheets and dead leaves to prevent dengue breeding sites?, he emphasised. He said that uncleaned gutters, unused old school furniture , tiles, lunch sheets as well as polluted immediate environments of schools such as canals and drains blocked by garbage were the main causes why there were so many dengue victims among school children.
He warned that stiff fines would be imposed on all mosquito breeders, adding that even living next to a breeding site and not informing the CMC about it can also be subject to a fine.
Meanwhile Health Ministry sources told The Nation that the Ministry was now in the process of upgrading blood testing to provide better treatment for dengue patients. The Ministry has distributed 50 micro hemotopic machines among 50 state hospitals, both in Colombo as well as Kalumnai and Trincomalee hospital.
?Doctors will now be able to expedite treatment by carrying out blood tests in the hospital itself instead of having to send samples of blood to the MRI and other labs.? a spokesman said.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/07/24/news6.htm
