Kerala - Kochi   

Vector control efforts not enough

KOCHI: The district health authorities in spite of an intensive vector control and awareness drive in the Corporation have failed to make the efforts visible enough.

The drive was taken up only for ten days, which managed to cover about 30-40 per cent of the area.

Fogging was done every day except when it was raining, said N.A. Mani, standing committee chairman for Health in the council. However, the number of health inspectors under the Corporation who could join the new team sent by the District Medical Office was very few.

The health authorities recruited 71 people for ten days for vector control and awareness activities in the Corporation, for which the National Rural Health Mission made available Rs.5,000 for each division.

They were mostly deployed to clear garbage, K.T. Remani, District Medical Officer said. Each person in a day could cover about hundred houses a day. At the end of ten days, each of the 71 persons could complete about 1,000-1,500 houses, which still fell much short of what the health authorities were aiming at. Source reduction activity was perhaps not being done in a proper manner as a gap was found in awareness and implementation of knowledge. All the temporary recruits were sent off on Friday with Rs.2,500 as their salary.

Vector studies in the last ten days indicated that mosquito index in certain areas were high. On Thursday, the data showed that divisions 7, 10, 47 representing Cherlai, Karuvelipady and Ponnurunni East have a vector index as high as 88.6, 110 and 141. The index measured as Breteau index is the ratio of the number of containers found positive divided by the total houses visited. Microbiologists say that an index above 25 is taken as a warning and 40 is considered critical.

However, there are certain areas in the Corporation where low levels of vector index were found. They are divisions 12, 25, 40 to 43 and 69 representing Tharebagham (1.8), Chullikkal (4.3), Mamangalam (11.3), Vennala (1.4), Palarivattom (8.2) and Karanakkodam (9.5).

The Paravur taluk continued to register more fever cases. Chikungunya cases were now being reported more from coastal areas, the District Medical Officer said.

A release said 5,010 cases of fever and 26 cases of suspected chikungunya were reported in the district on Friday. Of the chikungunya cases, six were from Elamkunnapuzha, four from Paravur, two each from Chennamangalam, Ezhikkara, Kizhakambalam and Vazhakulam and one each from Karumalloor, Ayyampilly, Nedumbassery, Parakadavu, Pallipuram, Nayarambalam, Vengola and Edathala.

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