Health department plans strategy to avoid dengue fever outbreak next year

Rawalpindi

The district health department has claimed to have finalised a comprehensive strategy to avoid hatching of eggs of mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever, in the district with a hope to achieve dengue-free status in 2016.

The health department has finalised a plan that would be implemented for at least one-and-a-half months from January 1, 2016 under which the teams of district health department would work in the field for eliminating eggs of ‘aedes aegypti’ both from indoor and outdoor environment, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Arshad Ali Sabir while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

He said that no case of dengue fever has been reported from the district in the last one week that hints that the most severe outbreak of the infection in the history of the district has come to an end. “We have planned a comprehensive strategy to avoid dengue fever outbreak next year and the first phase of the strategy is being launched from January 1, 2016,” he added.

Giving details, he said the teams of district health department would visit every fourth house in the district in the first phase in search of eggs of ‘aedes aegypti’. After finding eggs in a house, the teams would visit at least four houses on each side of the house and the eggs found would be eliminated mechanically, he said.

The EDO said the teams of health department would check all possible breeding sites in the houses and would educate public on how to avoid hatching of eggs in the coming months.

To a query, he said shops, under construction buildings, public parks, graveyards and like places would be taken as outdoor environment and activities there would also be carried out in the first phase for prevention of hatching of mosquitoes’ eggs.

He said at present, two teams are being given responsibility of eliminating eggs from all houses in one union council while one team is being deputized for outdoor environment and one for hot spot in each UC. Each team would comprise of two members, he added.

He explained that the teams of district health department would start surveillance in all 109 union councils and wards of cantonment boards from January 1 and supervisory staff is also being allocated for checking performance of the field teams.

The priority of the district health department is to eliminate eggs of dengue fever vector till the middle of February next year after which another special campaign would be launched for identification and elimination of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, said Dr. Arshad.

After a severe outbreak this year, he said the health department has decided to not to discontinue surveillance activities against dengue fever until the environment is completely cleared of eggs, adult mosquitoes and larvae of the ‘aedes aegypti’.

He added that individuals in town did not take preventive measures against spread of dengue fever as seriously this year as was required that may be because of lack of awareness among public on various aspects of the infection and that is why the health department would continue awareness campaign during off season too.