1,000 ‘Dengue Breeding Checker’ teams deployed in Tirunelveli district

A total of 1,000 ‘dengue breeding checker’ (DBC) teams have been deployed by all local bodies in the district – right from the village panchayats to Tirunelveli Corporation – ahead of the onset of Northeast Monsoon following the sudden rise in dengue cases in the district.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting the anti-dengue operations at Rajendra Nagar in Palayamkottai on Thursday, District Collector Anand Mohan said the district administration has set in motion precautionary measures to avert possible dengue outbreak ahead of the onset of Northeast Monsoon even though no ‘dengue hotspot’ was reported in any part of Tirunelveli district.

As part of the drive, the village panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities and Tirunelveli Corporation have been told to deploy the ‘dengue breeding checker’ teams to visit every house to look for the breeding ground for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spreading the vector-borne disease.

Moreover, the DBC teams also collect information about fever cases, if any, in the family so as to take appropriate steps. Of the 854 fever cases reported during September, only eight were found to be dengue positive. Special medical camps will be organised in the places where more number of fever cases are reported while intensifying DBC operations in those areas.

Analysis of five-year data and traditional trend of Tirunelveli district show that the fever cases, including dengue cases, would go up only during October and November and hence the pre-monsoon operations through the DBC teams have been accelerated to avert any possible outbreak, Mr. Anand Mohan said

The Collector appealed to the public to keep their houses and the surroundings clean and free from water stagnation even in coconut shell

He informed that the local bodies had been instructed to ensure the distribution of drinking water after proper chlorination to avert water-borne diseases like typhoid, jaundice and diarrhoea as well.

“Besides reviewing water supply to the residents during the weekly meetings, the chlorination levels and the quantity of water being supplied to the residents are also being monitored for taking appropriate corrective measures,” Mr. Anand Mohan said.

The Collector, during the inspection, visited a few houses and personally checked the ground-level sumps and the overhead tanks with torch for the larva.