Don’t expect cold weather, cracker fumes or the MCD to smoke out Aedes aegypti, the day-biting mosquito that causes dengue. It seems only you can make a difference, and the MCD is counting on that.
“People should not hope that colder weather or fumes from crackers on Diwali would smoke away the mosquitoes. In the past, dengue cases have been reported in Delhi till December so people it is up to Delhi residents to ensure they don’t allow fresh water to stagnate,” said N.K. Yadav, Municipal Health Officer, MCD. Nine more people tested positive for dengue on Wednesday, taking the number of cases reported in the Capital to 1,054.
Three of the nine cases were from outside Delhi but were being treated here. According to the MCD, there have been two confirmed dengue deaths.
Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are caused by one of four closely related virus serotypes called DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. All four are prevalent in India, including Delhi.
“This year, DEN-1 is the strain predominantly causing infections in Delhi, but the outbreak was caused by DEN-3 last year,” Yadav said. Since an infection with one of these serotypes does not provide cross-protective immunity, a persons living in Delhi can get four dengue infections in their lifetime.
“In fact, a person getting dengue for a second time is likely to develop more severe symptoms and disease than the first infection,” said Dr Susham Sharma, head of internal medicine, Max Healthcare. Infection can cause a range of symptoms, ranging from a non-specific viral fever to rash or severe haemorrhagic disease.
“Severity of symptoms depends not so much on the strain and serotype of the virus but the age, immune status and genetic predisposition of the patient,” said Dr Sharma, who added the number of dengue cases at Max Hospitals have shown a decline over the past two weeks. Since dengue infection causes symptoms of varying severity, mild infection can be easily missed.
“The platelet count falls only in 5-10 per cent cases, so physicians also need to watch out for haemoconcentration levels (to track fluid oozing out of blood into tissues) and signs of disordered coagulation. Strangely, even complications associated with dengue occur after the condition improves between 4 and 5 days, with rash appearing in 15-20 per cent cases,” Dr Sharma added.
In all, over 4,177 dengue cases and 49 deaths were reported from across the country till October 13 this year.