The entomological survey and inspections carried out in various localities here recently found that the percentage of house index, which indicates the presence of dengue eggs and larvae, was alarmingly high. The high rate of house index suggests that there is a high risk of transmission and increased cases of dengue.
Dimapur district vector-borne disease officer Dr Imtiwabong Aier said this during the inter-sectoral meeting on dengue held at Dimapur deputy commissioner’s office. The meeting was conducted as part of the campaign to fight against dengue and other vector-borne diseases.
Aier said ‘source reduction’ should be the primary focus in fighting dengue as fogging kills only the adult mosquitoes and not the eggs and larvae. He maintained that community participation is the need of the hour to reduce the breeding sites and prevent the increase of dengue cases in Dimapur district.
He lauded the Rotary Club for assisting in fogging and disseminating the message on dengue and malaria in the past two years. He also thanked Dimapur Municipal Council for spraying DDT in the past.
Dimapur additional deputy commissioner Albert Ezung said though dengue cases have increased in Dimapur, there has been no death reported so far. He also mentioned that the health department in the district has been carrying out various activities to curb the menace.
“We need collaborative efforts to combat dengue. Community participation is required to achieve desirable results. Health is one’s own responsibility and this message has to be spread and percolated down to the general public,” Ezung stated.
He also underlined the need to identify the responsible people from every community, train them and give them the responsibility and accountability to educate their respective communities on dengue and other vector-borne diseases and also sensitize them on the preventive and curative aspects of the diseases. He emphasized the collaborative effort of the government, public, and various NGOs to curb the menace.
State programme officer, Nagaland vector-borne diseases control programme, Dr Talitemsu said the cases of malaria have considerably gone down in Nagaland over the years but the cases of dengue have increased.
She expressed hope that such a meeting would bring about good resolutions to prevent vector-borne diseases in the district.