Dengue prevention for you, the family and locality

The scare of the currently raging Dengue epidemic
in Lucknow is neither a false alarm nor media hype.
Good many people have fallen prey, and few have
already died.

The tragedy is that Dengue assumes an aggressive
form in young healthy adults, who were, till yesterday,
up and about their usual lives, going to school or
college, attending to work, partying or planning a grand Diwali bash.

Attempts at mosquito control seem to have gone away. Many might ask if it had started at all, seeing the heaps of polythene bags by the roads. The striped Aedes mosquitoes are easily seen in homes and offices on their dauntless flights landing on arms, necks and feet for their blood meals and injecting the virus through skin pricks.

What can you do to protect your self and your family?

Involve your neighbours, make a local team, pool some money and arrange people to clear the heaps of polythene bags from the neighbourhood, burning them if necessary. Arrange a fogging machine and organize Malathion spray if possible. Get some kerosene poured on stagnant pools of water in the locality. Dont wait for the government municipality any more.

1. Call the carpenter and make sure that your windows and doors are netted to prevent mosquitoes from entering.
2. Spray insecticides in and around the home daily
3. Put away your half sleeved shirts, shorts, and T shirts. Start wearing full sleeves, trousers and socks from today. The Aedes mosquito has a short snout and cant sting through a layer of cloth.
4. Request the principal to allow your child to wear full sleeves and trousers. Girls should wear pants or long skirts with leggings underneath.
5. Use mosquito repellents on exposed parts of the body (back of hands, neck, and face) on most times.
6. If fever occurs and stays for more than 2 days, get the blood tests done as advised by your doctor.
7. Take only paracetamol for fever. Avoid ibuprofen, acetaminophen, nimesulide (banned in most countries) and other painkillers. They increase the risk of bleeding and can damage organs
8. The main risks from Dengue are shock and bleeding. To prevent shock, drink lots of liquids and make sure you are passing good amounts of urine. If nausea and vomiting are cumbersome, IV fluids infused timely can help.

Dengue prevention requires all of us to work together if we have to succeed. Women’s groups in Thailand and the Phillipines have solved the problem by forming local groups and taking the initiative. Lucknow should be able to rise to the challenge too.

The greatest marvel of human nature is believed to be that seeing others die around him man refuses to believe that he too shall die. With Dengue raging in Lucknow, our complacence suggests that we feel quite that way!

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 15 September, 2013.