The rise in cases of dengue in the capital has once again raised questions over the awareness levels on the preventive aspects of the ailment among public. Despite knowing that dengue occurs in a particular time of the year and is preventable, authorities and public, time and again, do not take pre-emptive measures, is a refrain from senior doctors.
Many pointed out that simple steps to avoid mosquito bite and getting rid of stagnant water in the vicinity are the two basic measures that everyone tends to forget. “It is an entirely preventable disease but nobody bothers to take precautionary steps. Rather than undergoing the painful treatment for dengue, it is far better to take preventive measures,” says former Superintendent Gandhi Hospital Dr. B. Balraju. Since dengue is a vector borne ailment transmitted by Aedes albopictus mosquito, the primary step is to take steps to avoid getting bitten by it. “Everyone should observe a dry day once in a week. This means that all the vessels and other containers used to store water at home should be emptied once a week. This will ensure that the breeding process of the mosquito is broken,” suggests, District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) Dr. Narendrudu.
According to doctors, major sources for mosquitoes to breed are small openings, leaf axils, flower and plants pots, discarded tyres, old oil drums, water pots and potentially in stagnant and water storage containers. “Public should watch out for containers that are filled with stagnant water for a long time. They provide ideal conditions for the mosquitoes to breed,” Dr. Balraju said.
The mosquito causes dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), of which the latter happens to be fatal. The typical symptoms of dengue fever includes rashes, high fever, severe headache, sore eye, body pains, vomiting, appetite loss and nausea alongwith fever. The DHF patients have bleeding, which causes a lot of loss of blood platelets.
“Ideally, the normal platelet count is 1.5 to 4.5 lakh per micro liter of blood. For persons who are bleeding, if the platelet counts drop, then there is a need for replenishment. At present, we have not seen any kind of shortage in the supply of blood platelets in Hyderabad,” Dr. Balraju said.
