Mangaluru: Dengue cases increasing in DK district

Puttur: The number of people infected with dengue has seen a slight increase in the Dakshina Kannada district in the past few months.

To date, 59 confirmed cases have been reported in the district along with 910 suspected cases.

Officials in the district’s health department have said that most of these cases were reported in the past one month and compared to last year, the spread of the disease has increased drastically this year.

Presently, ASHA and other health department workers are visiting houses for surveying the presence of mosquito larvas in the surroundings and are indexing areas where larvae were found in 5 out of 20 houses.

The health department is planning to fog an area within 24 hours of a dengue case being reported and distribute guppy fish, that eat larvae, to households.

Speaking on the issue, District Malaria Control Officer said, “One of the best ways to prevent dengue is to identify the factors that cause larval production and prioritize its control. ASHA, Health Department workers are raising awareness through house-to-house visits. The prevalence of dengue has risen over the past one month due to pre-season rainfall.”