“Every fever should be taken seriously and not ignored during the present time as there is a likelihood of co-infection of COVID-19 and dengue at the same time and this can be highly risky. Co-infection may exhibit illness with overlapping signs and symptoms, making the accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment difficult,” cautioned Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH)-Hyderabad director G.V.S. Murthy on Thursday.
“Heavy rainfall has led to stagnant water, which is a favourite breeding ground for ‘Aedes’ mosquito responsible for dengue and chikungunya. Fever, fatigue, muscle pains, body aches are seen in both. Pain behind eyes, rashes on skin, joint pains with fever are more characteristics of dengue. High fever at the start is again a characteristic of dengue unlike COVID, where initially it is low grade fever and also cold, cough, sneezing, loss of taste and smell with fever,” he said.
“While GHMC is doing an ‘excellent’ job in controlling mosquito breeding points, citizens need to join hands to eliminate dengue transmission. IIPH-Hyderabad, DAKSHAS Foundation and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in partnership with the State government and GHMC has embarked on an innovative ‘Project - No Fever’ since August,” disclosed Dr. Murthy.
The strategy includes creating awareness on dengue, providing advice and support to resident welfare societies to eliminate breeding adult ‘Aedes’ mosquitoes within their complexes and early recognition, referral and appropriate diagnosis and management of fever.
Volunteers from IIPH and Dr. Reddy’s Labs had provided information and material like repellent creams, chemical agents like ‘Temephos’ to kill Aedes larvae and insecticide impregnated nets as well as toxic sugar baits for adult mosquitoes in the first phase. In the next phase, the services are being made available to all resident welfare societies and schools in Greater Hyderabad.
Interested citizens and motivated children can reach out to the ‘Project - No Fever’ control room through WhatsApp @ +91 7702169118 and email ID: projectnofever@iiphh.org. “The vision of this collaboration supported by Dr. Reddy’s Labs is to work towards a dengue transmission free city over the next three years. This can then become a model for other parts of Telangana and India,” Dr. Murthy added.
