Patients crowd outside the OPD of GTB Hospital in New Delhi, Tuesday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)With Delhi clocking a spurt of 101 dengue cases over the past week, doctors have suggested that keeping homes and surroundings dry and clean and body parts covered might help in curbing the disease as the mosquitoes causing dengue – Aedes aegypti – are day-biters.
Dr Jugal Kishore, Director Professor and Head of Community Medicine Department at Safdarjung Hospital, said, “Generally mosquitoes breed in water accumulated in any form of storage like water bodies, buckets, mud pots, discarded containers, used tyres, rooftop water tanks, containers, plastics, cistern, tree, etc.”
Kishore said that once a female has laid eggs, they can remain viable for several months in dry conditions and will hatch when they are in contact with water. All such breeding sites need to be eliminated by physical and engineering methods.
“Larvae, pupas, and mosquitoes can be killed by various environment-friendly insecticides. This mosquito is usually a day-biter. Bites of mosquito can be prevented by covering body parts with appropriate clothes, using mosquito repellents and mosquito nets. Windows in houses should be covered with a wire mesh,” he said.
However, the threat looms large at night as well. “Besides day-biters, the mosquitoes are now active in the evening as well because of the bright light in homes and outside. This species of Aedes mosquitoes are known as tiger mosquitoes.”
According to Dr Manoj Sharma, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, at Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, taking the right precautions are necessary to keep dengue at bay.
“Dengue has become a seasonal illness and every year thousands of people are affected by it. It can be prevented by keeping the house and surroundings dry and clean. One should take steps to remove stagnant water and handle wet garbage carefully. In the evening, doors and windows must be closed,” said Sharma.
Kishore said people often grow plants like citronella, lemongrass, and marigold in their houses as they are mosquito repellents. “However, it is not advisable to increase the number of plants indoors till proper care is taken, else they too can be a source of mosquitoes breeding.”
While the number of dengue cases in Delhi have shot up, doctors say that the symptoms in patients reported in Delhi-NCR are the same as those seen in the past. “There have been no significant changes in the symptoms experienced by patients who have been admitted in AlIMS so far,” said Dr Niraj Nischal, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, AIlMS.
According to a Municipal Corporation of Delhi official, patients traced by civic officials have shown mild symptoms so far. “Dengue becomes severe when there is any kind of bleeding. If that happens, a patient should immediately be rushed to hospital. So far, no such case has been reported in Delhi,” said the official.
On Monday, the MCD had released a report that showed despite the rising cases in the national capital, no fatalities have been reported so far this year due to the disease.