Delhi and Dengue
30/09/2015, New Delhi. India is in the grip of its worst outbreak of dengue in years. According
to the official figures, 25,000 people have been infected in country this year.
The real figure is believed to be much higher. In Delhi, Nearly 2,200
fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the last one week, taking the
seasons total to a whopping 5982 as hospitals across the city continued to be
flooded with patients affected by the mosquito-borne fever in which 37 people
have died so far. A 16-year-old boy’s death has come to light in the
national capital and it has proven to be the worst month for the outbreak of
the disease in the last six years. Officials said the number of affected
people this year is all set to overtake the total figure for 2010, when 6,259
cases were reported. Out of the total 5,982 cases, North Delhi recorded
the highest at 1,734, South Delhi 1,633 while East Delhi posted the lowest with
754 cases. Najafgarh Zone of South Delhi
Municipal Corporation has recorded the highest number with 588 cases of all civic zones in the city.
Dengue is a disease of
modern world. Fifty years ago just a few countries reported dengue outbreaks,
now it is prevalent in more than 120 nations. The transport networks that connect
our world together have spread the mosquitoes across countries. Dengue fever is
prevalent in sub-tropical and tropical regions, including South East Asia and
South America. Over the last few decades the rate of infection has increased
thirty fold.
Dengue is transmitted by
several species of mosquitoes within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever,
headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is
similar to measles. Experts say that almost 85-90 per cent dengue cases are mild and sub-clinical, meaning that the patient does not require
hospitalization or extensive care. It is just the 5-10 per cent group,
especially children who tend to have more severe attack. The dengue
fever generally takes 5-6 days to settle down.
From goat's milk to papaya
leaves, people have been trying various natural remedies for faster recovery in
dengue. But due to lack of awareness they miss out the easiest method of all,
which is to stop dehydration. The high fever causes water loss while Vomiting
and diarrhea add to the problem. Dehydration can increase the severity of the
disease. Experts also suggest not putting the body under any kind of
stress, so avoid going to office, working on laptops or mobile phones and
watching TV. Rest and sleep help in faster recovery.
Doctors say treatment is
symptomatic with no specific cure, so if patients use pain medicines
indiscriminately there is a risk of them becoming resistant to them and can
prove fatal in extreme cases. The mortality rate is fewer than one in a hundred
but with the World Health Organisation estimates there at least 100 million
infections a year so it is still a very serious health issue. Climate
change is likely to make the warm, wet conditions dengue mosquitoes love even
more common.
