Gujarat has been witnessing a surge in dengue cases as rains begin to recede in many parts of the state. On Saturday, the state government declared that a number of dengue cases have witnessed a 34 percent rise in the last week of August as compared to the previous week. Dengue, the mosquito-borne disease is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito (Aedes aegypti) bite. The mosquito spreading dengue virus breeds in stagnant water.
Around 1,903 dengue cases were reported from across Gujarat between July 22 and September 1. Of these 1,445 cases were reported from just eight municipal corporations. Ahmedabad and Surat, where the most numbers of blood samples were tested for dengue, reported the high dengue positive cases.
Ahmedabad reported 949 cases of dengue, Surat 116, Jamnagar 115, Vadodara 94, Rajkot 66, Junagad 50, Gandhinagar 28 and Bhavnagar 27.
According to a TOI report, when the dengue cases were on the rise towards the last week of August, district health officials in Patan, Mahisagar, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Kutch Botad, Amreli Bharuch and Chhota Udepur had sent no samples for dengue tests.
Ahmedabad city has been sending around 3,300 blood samples for dengue test every week. “In tribal districts of Bharuch, Chhota Udepur and Mahisagar, there were no blood samples that were sent for tests. These districts have been reporting dengue cases as well. We have issued instructions to these districts,” a senior state health official was quoted by the daily as saying.
The Gujarat government had declared 2020 to be vector-borne disease-free. The state government is closely studying the '10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute' campaign initiated by Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government where residents, government officials, ministers of the Delhi government and NGOs have been conducting a drive against mosquito breeding sites.
Prevention is always better than cure and people can restrict themselves from falling prey to the dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases by avoiding the accumulation of water in the vicinity. They can also help themselves by keeping the surroundings clean and not letting garbage accumulate.
People should use mosquito repellents and nets to avoid being infected by mosquitoes spreading dengue, malaria, chikungunya and other diseases.
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