An awareness camp held at GC community hall on Tuesday dispelled myths surrounding the dreaded D-word. Dr Subhajit Guha, consultant anaesthetist and intensive care specialist, addressed the audience in an event organised by the Inner Wheel Club of Dhakuria, the Rotary Club of Dhakuria and GC Block.

 

“Dengue is really spreading at an alarming rate this season. I myself am getting two to three patients hospitalised with dengue daily,” said Guha, who is associated with KPC Medical College and Hospital and Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

 

Here is what The Telegraph Salt Lake learnt from the seminar. 

 

 

 

 

While the central government has many anti-malaria practices in place dengue is much more difficult to control. This is because unlike malaria, dengue is a virus whose strains can mutate. So it manages to survive  whatever remedy is being tried against it. 

 

 

The disease spreads through the female aedes aegypti mosquito. These mosquitoes become infected when they bite and draw blood from a dengue-affected human. A week later, whoever such a mosquitoe bites gets dengue. The females also pass the virus to the eggs they lay. 

 

 

These mosquitoes have a lifespan of about two weeks. In that duration that can lay eggs up to three times and each time about 100 eggs are produced. It takes about five days for an egg to become an adult. So even a few mosquitoes per household can lead to massive outbreaks in a neighbourhood.

 

 

Yes. The mosquitoes can fly up to 400m in search of stagnant water to lay the eggs. This can be water-filled containers, plates under flower pots, puddles etc. To prevent their spread, cover all containers or drain the water out. Eggs cannot survive if laid in running water bodies such as rivers. 

 

 

Inside homes, msoquitoes usually hide in dark corners such as in closets, under beds or behind curtains. And their peak time for biting is two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.

 

 

 

Use mosquito nets, sprays, coils, electric vapour mats etc. Wear full-sleeved tops and trousers so the pests can’t reach you and wear light-coloured clothes. Dark colours attract mosquitoes.  

 

 

Not necessarily. Eighty per cent of the times dengue is asymptomatic. This means you may have dengue but not realise it. This does not require treatment and like the common cold, it would leave you in a few days.

 

Out of those who get symptomatic dengue, home care is adequate for most. Such patients would recover in a week or two. Only five per cent people get critical and need hospitalisation.

 

 

Fever (103-104°C) for two to seven days along with two or more of the following — headache (often severe), severe eye pain behind the eyes, muscle pain, joint pain, rashes.

 

The condition could worsen after three to seven days. One could get severe stomach ache, persistent vomiting, vomiting blood, red spots or patches on the skin, bleeding gums and nose, black stool, pale, cold, clammy hands, breathing difficulty etc.

 

 

There is no specific medication for dengue but the symptoms are to be treated. Have paracetamol for the fever, for instance. Take rest, drink water, juice and ORS. Since dengue is so rampant right now, it is advisable to visit the doctor as soon as you feel unwell.

 

Research is on to develop a vaccine for dengue but till then, one can get dengue not only once but repeatedly. 

 

 

Most people who get dengue have no life risk but some, especially children and the elderly, are susceptible to the severe types — Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome.

 

These patients have to be hospitalised and their platelet count has to be constantly monitored. A platelet count of over 1,00,000 is considered normal but if it falls under 20,000 transfusion is required. But lives can be saved with timely medical attention. 

 

COUNCILLOR SPEAK

Secretary of the GC Block residents’ association, Rajesh Chirimar, is also a councillor and mayor-in-council member of the Bidhannaagar Municipal Corporation. He spoke of his experience of dealing with the mosquito menace:

Bleaching powder useless as mosquito repellent-

Residents ask us to sprinkle bleaching powder in their neighbourhood. They also ask the workers to sprinkle some in their homes but the truth is that bleaching powder does not kill mosquitoes. It gets rid of insects but has no significant effect on mosquitoes. 

Foggers’ dilemma-

Fogging uses chemicals to create a smoke screen that — not kills but — shoos away mosquitoes and there is a process to it. Fifteen minutes before fogging an area, we send out an auto from which loudspeakers ask residents to shut their windows. But these days there are so many hawkers using the public address system to sell their wares that residents are not paying much heed to the pre-fogging announcement. So if residents do not shut their windows, the displaced mosquites fly into their houses!

Residents must chip in-

The corporation sends health workers to check for stagnant water in homes but often residents don’t let them in, claiming their houses are safe. But certain corners go unnoticed. For instance, people living on the ground floor hardly go to the terrace to check if water has accumulated. People often dump thermocol plates or earthen cups on footpaths and these become nurseries for mosquitoes. Post-Puja, many parks have bamboo poles lying around in the hollow cove of which water collects. 

PICTURES OF ACTION AND INACTION IN SALT LAKE