Rain may spoil larvicidal activity, create pockets for mosquito breeding

Rawalpindi
The rain spell which started on Saturday may spoil larvicidal activity, the sprinkling of chemicals, including Temephos Granules and Deltamethrin Solution, on ‘unnecessary’ water reservoirs in the district that was carried out by the district health department recently.
The rain spell would also create pockets for mosquito breeding that would certainly increase chances of breeding of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever.
Many health experts stressed upon the need of an environment clean from solid waste as well, as it may become a main risk factor after the rain and help growth of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’ due to accumulation of water in heaps of garbage.
The recent rain has certainly increase the risk of spread of dengue fever in future if prompt action is not taken well in time to eliminate possible breeding sites for larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’ and keeping this in mind, the district health department has been on toes to further strengthen its surveillance campaign against dengue fever, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Khalid Randhawa while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday.
He added that a total of 350 workers including 200 female members and 150 male members have already been in the field for nearly a month for carrying out activities under larvae identification and elimination campaign that was launched in the beginning of March this year.
To a query, he said the recent rain spell would provide water to the eggs of mosquitoes increasing the chances of growth of larvae and to avoid it, immediate removal of water accumulation is needed.
He said the health department alone cannot eliminate all the pockets containing water accumulation that would be created in result of the on-going rain spell. All the concerned authorities including tehsil municipal administrations, WASA and Rawalpindi Waste Management Company should work to eliminate unnecessary water reservoirs as soon as possible after the rain spell, he said. He added that he is holding a meeting with the field staff on daily basis to review and monitor directly the surveillance activities being carried out to prevent a possible outbreak of dengue fever while a cabinet committee for dengue prevention in district Rawalpindi meets every week under the chairmanship of provincial minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar.
During the last meeting of the cabinet committee, the minister has directed all the district allied departments to ensure clean environment in their premises and staff colonies and held the departments responsible for clearing their premises from possible breeding sites of mosquitoes, said Dr. Randhawa. He added the step would help avoiding a possible outbreak of dengue fever in the district.
It is, however, important that the vehicles parked for months in police lines area in town serve as the breeding sites for mosquitoes and the teams of health department find larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’ from there every year.
When asked, Dr. Randhawa said the minister has directed all the departments to take responsibility of clearing their premises from possible breeding sites seriously.