The district has registered a slight increase in the number of dengue cases this year compared to last year, according to the authorities.
With the district reporting sporadic cases of dengue, the Health Department and the local bodies have stepped up source reduction activities to prevent the breeding of aedes aegypti, the primary vector.
“Cases are increasing compared to last year, even though we never had any outbreak so far,” said District Collector G.S. Sameeran. He added that the district administration was closely monitoring the situation.
P. Aruna, Deputy Director of Health Services, said that the district did not witness any deaths due to dengue this year.
Though there was no alarming spike in the number of cases, the Health Department was taking control measures to prevent a situation like an outbreak.
Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), the biggest tertiary level government hospital in the region, was getting dengue cases from Coimbatore and neighbouring districts.
CMCH Dean A. Nirmala said that the hospital had two patients each from Tiruppur and Erode a few days ago and three others from Coimbatore. “We have not come across any serious case of dengue infection in the recent past,” she said.
The hospital has a special ward for treating dengue patients in isolation. The blood bank at the hospital was maintaining adequate stocks of platelet, transfusion of which is required in high-risk patients.
Some of the private hospitals in the city are also getting dengue patients from Coimbatore and neighbouring districts.
Private hospitals are sending daily updates of new cases to the Health Department which conducts field visits and initiates control measures, an official said.
Coimbatore Corporation said in a release on Wednesday that it slapped a fine of ₹10,000 on a gated community in ward 79 after mosquito breeding was found on its premises.
Fieldworkers of the Corporation were visiting houses for source reduction activities to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
The Corporation appealed to the public to avoid breeding of mosquitoes in their houses and premises. Large containers used for storing potable water must be checked frequently and cleaned once a week using bleaching powder. As water stored in disposable plastic items, coconut shells, discarded tyres, etc., aids mosquito breeding, such materials should be disposed of properly.
