High prevalence in Ramakrishnanagar, Dattagalli, Kuvempunagar, Hootagalli and Periyapatna

Mysore/Mysuru: Today, May 16, is National Dengue Day, an initiative by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to spread awareness about the vector-borne disease and its preventive methods.

While the Mysuru District Administration and the Health and Family Welfare Department are conducting various awareness programmes, the cases of dengue in the district have reached worrying proportions. From January 1 to May 16, 139 cases have been reported.

Last year, 182 cases were reported and when compared to that, this year, 139 cases have been reported in four months, 16 days. Of the 139 cases, 5 are that of chikungunya. When compared to the 10-year data from 2012, 2017 saw 843 cases, the highest in 10 years. It was closely followed by 2016 that reported 582 cases. (see table). In the last 10 years, there have been five deaths.

Dengue fever, often known as break-bone fever, is an infection spread by mosquitoes that can cause severe flu-like diseases. It is caused by four distinct viruses and spread by Aedes mosquitoes. These mosquitoes also transmit yellow fever, Zika viruses, and chikungunya.

This year, of the 139 cases, 103 are from Mysuru urban. In total, 235 samples were tested and 103 turned positive. Mysuru city is closely followed by Mysuru rural with 13 cases while 38 samples were tested. In all, in Mysuru district, 320 samples were tested from January this year to May and 139 have tested dengue-positive.

“Each individual must understand the disease’s consequences and the measures they must take to prevent becoming afflicted with it. Every member of the community must play a significant role in preventing dengue,” District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. K.H Prasad told Star of Mysore this morning.

Urban, semi-urban, rural vulnerable areas

Mentioning about the areas where there is high prevalence of dengue and chikungunya, Dr. Prasad said that in Mysuru city, Ramakrishnanagar, Dattagalli and Kuvempunagar have been identified as vulnerable areas and in the semi rural areas, Hootagalli has been classified as vulnerable and in the rural area, it is Periyapatna.

“It is a viral disease caused by the dengue virus and is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito (Aedes aegypti) bite infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. The mosquito bites in daylight, which develops in the person after 3-14 days of the infective bite. The only way to prevent dengue is by avoiding mosquito bite because a vaccine can’t protect against dengue,” he added.

As part of the dengue control measures, door-to-door surveillance (information education and communication) and educational campaigns are held regularly. “We focus on ‘fight the bite’ and control. Breeding grounds such as collected water in tumblers, tyres must be cleaned at least once a week so that the 7-day larvae breeding cycle is disrupted. We advise people to sleep with mosquito nets and also after application of repellent creams,” Dr. Prasad added.

The Aedes mosquito stays in clean or stagnant water. Remove any stagnant water in your surroundings. The water in coolers, containers, buckets, etc. should be cleaned and removed every once a week, he explained. If more than 10 percent of the population in any particular area is infected with dengue, then fogging is carried out at regular intervals.

 10-year dengue, chikungunya data 

Year	Dengue	Deaths	Chikungunya
2012	15	–	5
2013	334	3	7
2014	65	–	13
2015	382	–	111
2016	582	–	152
2017	843	2	78
2018	49	–	41
2019	122	–	81
2020	32	–	13
2021	182	–	37
2022 (January to May 16)	139	–	5