“We have to conduct at least an awareness program but we lack budget even for that,” said Vector Control Public Health Officer at DPHO, Bedraj Ghimire. “There is no other option but to seek recourse from Municipality and other organizations in the district,” he added. [break]He was of the opinion that the resurgent of the disease at a time when DPHO ran out of the budge had posed problems in starting campaign against the disease.
Following the growing number of the dengue patient in Jhapa, a team from Epidemiology and Disease Control Division Kathmandu reached the district to take stock of the situation. The team led by Epidemiologists Purushotam Gautam organized a meeting with the local stakeholders on Saturday regarding the emergence of the disease and ways to tackle it. The team said that it would start its work from Sunday.
Citing the budget crisis, the DPHO expressed its inability to conduct the awareness campaign against the disease as demanded by the participants at the meeting.
“The news of the family members of health workers themselves being affected by the disease has worried the general public. So, an awareness campaign is necessary,” the participants at the meeting demanded.
Health worker Tikaram Dhakal and two of his family members along with two other in the Mechinagar municipality have been diagnosed with dengue so far. The chief of Dhulabari Health Center Lab, Dhakal, his wife Parbati, son Nishchal and Bishal Gautam of Kakadvitta has been infected by the dengue virus.
“We will start investigation from Sunday to see if any other people are infected with the dengue in the district,” Ghimire further informed.
According to Ghimire, as dengue fever is caused by dengue virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes, they would start search and destroy campaign of the mosquito eggs and its larva by finding the breeding places.
Speaking in the program, Epidemiologist Gautam appealed the public not to panic as all fevers are not dengue. According to Gautam, it is a kind of fever which caused intense viral infection and found in four categories from Dengu-1 to Dengu-4. He also informed the Aedes mosquitoes are black in colures with white spots on it. The disease occurs generally in urban and semi-urban areas.
The dengue mosquito lays eggs in water holding containers. The mosquitoes generally bite in the day time only.
The disease causes nausea, vomiting, rashes, restlessness, abdominal pains and the severe bleeding from different parts of the body causes death in the absence of treatment.
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