Dengue greets New Year with rising numbers

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 01:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Fathima Riznaz Hafi The deadly dengue menace has reared its ugly head once again. Despite the numbers being brought down drastically in the city of Colombo through the dengue eradication programs initiated by the CMC last year, numbers at the start of this year are reportedly on the rise. “Over the past eight days of the month of February, we already have 48 suspected cases. The numbers are going up. It is better than the numbers that were reported at this time last year but we cannot be complacent with that,” CMC Public Health Department Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan

Wijayamuni told the Daily FT yesterday. “In January and February this year, 344 suspected cases have been reported, mainly in North Colombo and Central Colombo, with the highest cases coming from Mattakkuliya which reported 34 cases. Modera reported 18 cases while Dematagoda reported around 20. New Bazaar and Grandpass are also on the list. “In December 2014 the number of cases in Cinnamon Gardens and Borella were high but they have come down this year because of the programs that we had initiated. The numbers in Kirulapone however have gone up.” Dr. Wijayamuni said that this increase is due to the scattered rains and the dry weather that prevailed for a couple of weeks. He warned that the potential breeding places to look out for are rooftops, poorly maintained gutters, bottles, plastic toys, blocked drains (to a certain extent), discarded tyres, plastic containers and high population density. He said that even refrigerators can pose a risk. “There is a compartment in some refrigerators where water collects in something like a frost tray, making it an ideal breeding ground,” he explained. He added that due to scarcity of water, people tend to collect water in barrels and buckets – these vessels are also breeding places. During the month of January this year 5,372 suspected dengue cases have been reported to the Epidemiology Unit from all over the island. Approximately 42.20% of dengue cases were reported from the Western province. The highest numbers of dengue cases were reported during the fourth week of 2015.