Civil Surgeon Dr. Rajesh Kumar Bagga today said that the health department is committed to making Ludhiana dengue, chikungunya and other vector-borne diseases free district. While issuing an advisory on this regard, Dr. Bagga asked the health department officials to intensify the drive for checking the spread of these Vector-Borne Diseases in the district.
He said that the vulnerable places for producing the larva of mosquitoes must be identified and action must be taken immediately. The civil surgeon said that besides checking drive, the people must be made aware of the breeding ground of mosquitoes including air-coolers, old/worn out utensils etc.
Dr. Bagga said that that the dengue is being transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquito which usually targets in the daytime and severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscles, and joint pains are symptoms of the disease. He said that any person having these symptoms should have only paracetamol tablets and consult the doctor immediately. He informed that tests of dengue fever are conducted free of cost in Civil Hospital Ludhiana and Civil Hospital Khanna. He informed that private doctors perform card test, which is not approved by the Union government. He stated that if any person has dengue like symptoms, he/she should get tests done at the above mentioned Civil Hospitals.
Dr. Bagga added that Aedes mosquito breeds in desert coolers, water storage containers, tyres, overhead tanks and many more places where rainwater collects or is stored. He said that people must be educated to keep all water storage containers covered, besides old tyres, broken pots, crockery should be removed.
He informed that supportive treatment is done in case of dengue and chikungunya and appealed the residents to cover their body properly while going out in open. He stressed that school going children should wear full sleeve shirts only and should restrict them for visiting parks etc. He stated that every Friday of the week should be observed as “dry day” so that we can save ourselves from diseases such as dengue, chikungunya etc. He stated that for any information related to these diseases, one can contact District Epidemiologist Dr Rajesh Kumar at 98557-16180.
