Source reduction key to control growth of mosquitoes

Community participation must to avoid dengue fever outbreak

Islamabad: After rise in temperature in this region of the country, the chances of growth of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever have increased convincing health experts to expect an outbreak of the infection in the coming months if proper preventive measures are not taken well in time.

The more the number of mosquitoes ‘aedes aegypti’ or ‘aedes albopictus’ in the environment, the more would be the chances of the outbreak however if measures are taken to eliminate the mosquitoes’ egg laying sites at the time, there would be less number of mosquitoes active in the peak season of transmission of dengue fever.

Eliminating mosquitoes’ egg laying sites called source reduction is the best preventive measure for areas infested with dengue fever vector as per record of confirmed cases of the infection reported in previous years.

The source reduction results in low number of eggs, larvae and pupae that will certainly reduce the number of adult mosquitoes giving less chance to transmission of the infection in the months to come.

According to Additional District Health Officer at Islamabad Capital Territory Health Department Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani, the most important thing to avoid dengue fever outbreak is to give attention to preparation and control measures not only by the concerned government authorities but also by the individuals at homes and offices.

He opines that in general, high humidity and temperature are conditions that favour transmission of dengue fever but it would happen as long as the mosquitoes are active. At this point in time, the health managers have sufficient time for preparation of an effective epidemiological response for preventing or containing any impending dengue fever outbreak on the basis of sufficient scientific evidence generated from the handling of the outbreaks in the recent past, he said.

According to many health experts, population in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been facing severe outbreaks of dengue fever almost every year mainly because of two reasons, inadequate participation of community and the late response from concerned government authorities.

Every year, the city district governments in the Punjab province launch comprehensive awareness campaigns against dengue fever after reports of a good number of confirmed patients of the infection and at that time, it is difficult to control spread of the infection, said a top official serving at the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi.

Pleading anonymity, he said the concerned government authorities should launch awareness campaign in March to convince individuals to eliminate possible breeding sites of mosquitoes from houses and offices while the health departments should work for source reduction religiously well in time.