Dengue, malaria cases go down sharply in Nagpur

NAGPUR: Already diminishing for the last two of years, the prevalence of dengue has further gone down by half as compared to last year. So far, just six have tested positive for the vector-borne disease from the 30 samples recorded in the city between January and May 7.
The highest number of 13 suspects was reported to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) malaria and filaria department in January. Of these, only two tested positive. No positive case was recorded in April, the peak of Covid, as well as so far in May.

Also, no death took place this year from dengue while only one death was reported in June 2020. The development comes in the backdrop of National Dengue Day which falls on May 16.
Last year, 107 patients had tested positive for dengue from among 643 suspects. Over 650 positive dengue cases were reported in 2019 and 565 in 2018. In both these years, the samples were over 4,000 to 5,000 and confirmed through ELISA testing.
Also, malaria seems to have almost disappeared. Yet, the civic body has continued to perform aggressive testing. Between January to May 7, around 48,000 samples were collected but no patient tested positive. Last year, just five malaria cases were reported from 1.56 lakh tests.
NMC officials said dengue cases intermittently kept surging and declining in the last one decade. “But this is the second consecutive year that the cases have gone down drastically,” they said.
One of the reasons for less sample collection has also been attributed to surge in Covid cases. “Maximum hospitalization were for Covid cases this year. Earlier, people would get admitted for dengue,” they said.
The lockdown and maintenance of clean surroundings too have played a major role, officials believed. “As people are mostly indoors, they are ensuring water contamination is not happening at home. Discarded items are being removed. People are keeping their coolers free of mosquito breeding. Our teams have surveyed different premises, but only a few were found to be hosting breeding spots,” they said.
In 2018 and 2019, the NMC had slapped notices and recovered penalties from schools, hospitals and other commercial establishments after mosquito-breeding spots were found on their premises.
Regarding malaria, the department officials said anopheles mosquitoes, which transmit the parasite through bite, is believed to be eradicated from the city.
“Malaria prevalence has already gone down in the last 10 years. But aedes aegypti, which causes dengue, are still present and citizens need to remain vigilant,” they said.
NMC malaria and filaria officer Dipali Nasare appealed to citizens to follow guidelines issued by the civic body and prevent themselves fron the vector-borne diseases.