Via the Deccan Herald: Dengue deaths rise in Kolar district; 45 victims this year. Excerpt:
Dengue has claimed 45 lives in the district so far this year, according to Dr G Prakash Kumar, district health officer.
In his report submitted to the Zilla Panchayat on June 21, he had stated that 32 cases of dengue deaths were reported and in four days it has increased to 45.
The medical officers attributes the spread of dengue to storage of water in residences in the summer. The vector of dengue, Aedes Aegypti, chooses fresh water to breed.
In summer, as the borewells go dry and the water is supplied through tankers once or twice a week, the residents store the water in sumps, large containers and all the available vessels to use for over seven to 10 days.
If the water containers are not cleaned at least once in three days, they become breeding ground for the carriers of the disease, said Dr Shashikanth, district in-charge surveillance officer.
During the survey of the villages, he found thriving of larvae in the water stored in sumps for more than a week were responsible for the death of nine-year-old Kokila of Bangarpet. Kokila had died of dengue at a hospital in Bangalore on Tuesday.
The only solution to check the spread of the disease is to avoid storing water for more than three days and keeping the containers clean.
But the residents refused to buy their suggestions as water is more precious in the drought-prone region, he said.
