By Mahima Devkota
Kathmandu, Sept.24: Health experts have said that breaking the chain of the dengue virus transmission is an effective way to reduce infection and mortality.
Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, Joint Spokesperson to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP)said that avoiding the bite of the infected mosquito and eliminating the chances of getting bitten by the mosquitos when infected with dengue virus is the best way to break the transmission cycle.
According to him, when an infected mosquito bites a healthy person then a healthy person gets infected with dengue, and when the un-infected mosquitos bite the dengue-infected person then it ingests the blood with dengue virus then the vector mosquito is infected and it may spread the disease by biting other healthy people. And, this becomes a never-ending cycle if the transmission chain is not broken.
Dr Chuman Lal Das, Director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) said that the dengue virus is spreading swiftly in communities when non–infected people are bitten by mosquitos and vice–versa.
“In order to prevent the spread, the infected people need to be cautious, especially in crowded areas and offices for it can spread to a large number of people at a time,” He said. “We have intensified the ‘Search and Destroy Campaign’ with an aim to reduce the spread of the dengue virus. However, without the support and awareness of the denizens, it is difficult to curb the virus and eliminate the infection.”
The expert suggested that the incubation period of healthy mosquitos to get the dengue virus is 8 to 10 days and if we can tap into that through a search and destroy campaign then we can spread the dengue virus.
Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku said that if the search and destroy campaign was intensified timely when the infection was just surfacing then this situation would have been avoided.
Preventive measures like using mosquito repellents, wearing protective and long-sleeved clothing outside, and eliminating areas where the mosquitos can breed, help to break the cycle.
So far, a total of 29 people have lost their lives to dengue infection with a total of 22,998 cases of infection in 76 districts out of 77.
– TRN Online
