It is understood that a massive dengue-eradication drive is being carried out in Sao Jose De Areal in view of the rising number of cases of dengue fever in the village. However it appears that the viral fever is spreading to other places as two cases of Dengue fever were reported in Curtorim and another case in Rawanfond and Aquem-Baixo. Suspected cases were also reported in Macazana and Chandor (Herald July 6). And now the number of dengue cases in South Goa alone has gone up to 58 which must be considered as an alarming rise.
Increase in the number of scrap-yards in the locality and surrounding areas could be one of the reason for the spread of the virus. Another reason could be the influx of migrants who could be carrying the virus from other states from where they come thereby leading to the spread of the Dengue fever due to mosquito bites from an infected person.
While carrying out the dengue eradication drive what is also important is to sensitize the people of the locality and surrounding areas. Besides carrying out the dengue-eradication drive it is also necessary to sensitize the people of the locality and the surrounding areas on the symptoms, prevention and treatment of the disease which could be mistaken for a simple viral fever because of the similarity in the symptoms.
Dengue is spread by infected mosquitoes, usually the Aedes aegypti and albopictus varieties. These mosquitoes bite during the day, most often early in the morning, or in the evening before dusk.
There are four different strains of the dengue virus: DEN 1, DEN 2, DEN 3 and DEN 4. Once a person is infected by one of the strains, he/she should develop life-long immunity against that strain, but further infections with a different strain are possible. Growing populations and an increase in global travel have resulted in the virus spreading. Rates of dengue are often high in major cities in the developing world that have poor sanitation. Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include sudden, high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, skin rash, which appears three to four days after the onset of fever, mild bleeding such as nose bleeding, bleeding gums, or easy bruising. There is no vaccine to prevent human infection by this virus. There is no specific antiviral treatment available. General recommendations include controlling fever and pain. Prevention they say is better than cure. Hence the best way to prevent getting infected as well as preventing the spread of the disease would be personal protection and the environmental management of mosquitoes. These steps are important in preventing illness, prevent access of mosquitoes to an infected person with a fever.
Protecting oneself from mosquito bites at all times in dengue areas is absolutely essential. Fumigation, breeding guppies in water bodies as they consume mosquito larve, protecting from mosquito bites during the daytime are some of the measures to be taken. It is necessary to fight the bite.
