While the number of fever cases and other communicable diseases had been gradually increasing till last month, June has witnessed a steep rise in cases.
The District Medical Office had not reported any confirmed dengue deaths from Ernakulam so far, but officials said three persons were reported to have died of suspected dengue. The number of suspected dengue cases had gone up to 552 in June, while the confirmed cases were 98 till Monday. From January onwards, 1,337 suspected dengue cases had been reported, with 198 of them being confirmed.
H1N1 cases
Influenza A H1N1 is the other viral disease, for which six deaths have been reported this year — two deaths each in April, May and June — out of the total 80 cases.
Mosquito index
District surveillance officer V. Jayashree said the mosquito index was about three times more than the index number last month, especially in the corporation area. On an average, there is a 25% spurt in the mosquito index everywhere.
“While the government orders on cleaning activities come in from January onwards, they are never followed at the grassroots level,” said health staff.
The health service staff, who are asked to go on a door-to-door campaign for creating awareness on keeping premises clean, fail to motivate people since it is not a people’s movement at the time nor is there a scare of diseases.
It is learnt that the funds provided to panchayats for cleaning activities remain unutilized.
Even if informative pamphlets are distributed, hardly anybody reads or follows it. It is only the pre-monsoon activity that makes some kind of impact.
The district has also seen a rise in malaria cases this season.
While a majority of cases have been reported among migrant workers and those who had travelled outside, the vector analysis showed the presence of the Anopheles species of mosquito in certain areas capable of spreading the malarial parasite.
