Even as October saw a spurt in the number of dengue cases in Mumbai, the BMC officials today expressed hope that a drop in temperature levels, coupled with the preventive measures, will help reduce the number of cases.
According to civic officials, twelve persons have lost their lives so far due to dengue and over 660 cases were reported in Mumbai alone till the first week of November.
"We are sure that the number of dengue cases will come down from this week as temperatures have dropped to about 35 degrees from around 40 degrees last month," Suhasini Nagda, Director Medical education and major hospitals in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told PTI.
"People have also become aware now and they are now increasingly cooperating with us. Housing societies that were previously not allowing us to come inside are now welcoming us. This helps us do our work better," she said.
A dedicated staff of 2,200 civic workers is working 24x7 visiting households and they have covered nearly 12 lakh houses till the first week of November. "We are making them work overtime so that they can finish off the targets given to them. We are going to construction sites and at offices as these mosquitoes bite during the day time. We need to ensure that these places are free from stagnant water accumulation and other dirt that makes mosquitoes breed," she said.
"We have circulated a lot of advertisements and using radio jingles to spread awareness. We have also taken help of TV advertisements. The breeding spots of these mosquitoes have been found in housing colonies and notices have been sent to them. We clean the breeding spots and visit that place again after a week to make sure that water does not accumulate there again," Nagda said.
She said "serious preventive steps" are being taken to ensure that the virus does not cause more harm. Blood samples of the patients are being sent to labs in Nair and KEM hospital and the sequencing of the virus is being checked. "We need to see how does the virus strain change, adapt itself, etc...This way we can avoid the virus from causing more number of deaths in future," she said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}