Summer brings threat of vector borne diseases; Experts
Author(s): City Air NewsAs many as 200 members of Senior Citizens Welfare Association, Manimajra attended a health talk on ‘Vector-borne diseases’ organised by Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH), Mohali at Duplex Community Center, Manimajra...
Chandigarh, April 5, 2014: As many as 200 members of Senior Citizens Welfare Association, Manimajra attended a health talk on ‘Vector-borne diseases’ organised by Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH), Mohali at Duplex Community Center , Manimajra to mark World Health Day today. Among others Dr G Dewan, President, IMA, Chandigarh and Dr Nirlep Kaur, Director, Health Chandigarh were presented at the occasion.
Speaking during occasion, Dr Sumit Khetarpal, Sr consultant, Internal medicine, MSSH, Mohali said that the vector-borne diseases agents were transmitted by insect vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, flies and bugs which killed a million people each year and put more than half of the world population at risk.”
Talking about the symptoms of diseases that were non-specific and generally overlapping, Dr. Khetarpa said that malaria, dengue and chikungunya have similar symptoms and sometimes lacked timely diagnosis and medical treatment. Dengue and Chikungunya were caused by infected mosquito Aedes Agypti which was active during the day and bred in water storage areas whereas malaria was caused by Anopheles that was active during the night and even at dusk and dawn. Dengue would take 3-4 days for symptoms to show and generally lasted for a week, whereas Chikungunya would take a week for symptoms to set in. In malaria, the symptoms would start after 2 weeks of mosquito bite.”
Dr Deepak Bhasin, Sr Consultant, Pulmonology and Critical Care, MSSH said that in summer the threat of vector borne diseases increased due to poorly designed irrigation & water systems, inadequate housing, water disposal and water storage and deforestation might be contributing factors to the most common vector borne diseases. There should be the joint effort to eradicate this menace.”
Meanwhile during occasion, a play ‘Taraki ate Sehat’, was also staged by members of Theater Art Foundation, Kalagram focusing on better healthcare.
Preventive tips for vector borne diseases are:
? Use mosquito nets, mosquito repellent sprays/oils & creams etc
? Wear full sleeves clothes
? As dengue mosquito is a day biter so ensure while sleeping in afternoon area should have mosquito netting over the bed
? Avoid leaving any containers of standing water outside where mosquitoes can breed
? Prevent stagnation of water in the broken bottles, flower pots, buckets, tyres etc and keep water pots covered
? Put one tablespoon of petrol/Oil over standing water to deprive mosquito from oxygen which is required for breeding
? Take lot of fluid to avoid dehydration in the form of coconut water, lemonade etc.
? Keep over head water tanks tightly covered
? Meet your doctor immediately if you have been in an area endemic to dengue fever and you have any illness with fever that lasts for more than two days