Dengue on the rise again

30 May 2020 10:39 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 4 Bookmark

A A A

During the past five months of this year there have been 19,825 reported cases of dengue-related complications with 22 deaths, Health Minister Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi said yesterday.

She said with the onset of monsoonal rains there was a possibility of there being an increasing number of patients and deaths.

The minister said the number of dengue patients and deaths were much higher than COVID19-related patients and deaths and therefore it was extremely important for people to take extra care to avoid falling victims to dengue-related illnesses.

At a discussion chaired my the minister was held at the Health Ministry to prepare a plan to ensure that dengue is brought under control.

It was revealed at the discussion that 2020 was better than 2019, where there were 150 deaths and 105,049 reported cases of dengue.

The minister directed that dengue prevention units at local council level be strengthened and raids by environmental police be increased to nab householders who have dengue breeding sites in their premises.

Meanwhile, the Chief Epidemiologist of the Government Epidemiology Unit (GEU), Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said people living in paddy cultivation areas should take two 100mg tablets of the anti- bacterial Doxycycline daily to kill the bacteria ‘genus Leptospira’ that carries leptospirosis which is on the rise in many districts in the country.

He said Leptospirosis, widely known as rat fever had caused deaths of nine patients out of 500 in the first four months of this year and that stagnant water in paddy fields, culverts and lakes contaminated with with rat urine act as a carrier of leptospirosis which if diagnosed and treated early it can be fully cured.

Farmers in the districts of Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Badulla identified as vulnerable areas and must be careful not to step into stagnant water if they have open wounds in their legs and must take a tablet Doxycycline daily as an antidote for the disease. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Comments - 4

BE FAIR Saturday, 30 May 2020 02:29 PM

The silent "COVID-19"

0 0

Citizen Saturday, 30 May 2020 07:21 PM

Municipal mayors are sleeping, nothing done more than 6 months. All the drains are stinking and people throw garbage everywhere , in the past dengu prevention measures were taken

0 0

Antany Peter Sunday, 31 May 2020 07:09 AM

When I was growing up stray dogs and mosquitos were controlled by the Jaffna Municipality remarkably well. On the way to school I saw municipality workers spray chemicals almost everyday to eradicate mosquitos. However, now days we only see municipality workers in the area if someone died my mosquitos. Stray dogs are everywhere. Lawlessness in every aspect of life in Sri Lanka, sadly the current President who had the military discipline is going with the flow. I know plenty of people in Jaffna who live on the foreign money and do nothing. What the government has done to use those people to eradicate mosquitos? Why the government doesn't push those people to clean the water drainages and spray chemicals to reduce mosquitos breedings? An idle mind is the devil's workshop. I have seen how the foreign powers have been using people who live on the foreign handouts. My siblings are perfect example.

0 0

Sinna Sunday, 31 May 2020 03:28 PM

For some municipalties like, Dehiwala/Mt.lavina , heath units, this is god given gold mine, they scare innocent citizens to take courts,get ransom otherwise

0 0

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.