Fever surveys from May 1 as vector-borne cases likely to go up

Gurgaon: Anticipating a rise in dengue and malaria cases in the coming months, the health department on Friday said that it plans to start fever surveys across the city from May 1 to 10. A total of 102 teams have been constituted to carry out the exercise.

“Our teams will be checking all areas and specifically where cases were reported in past years and also identify water-holding containers, which can act as breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

At present there is no clustering of fever cases, but people need to be cautious. We have established a centre through which doctors can call their patients to check their daily status in case anyone is found to be positive,” said chief medical officer Dr Virender Yadav.

The vector-borne diseases are likely to rise as humidity levels have increased. Dengue cases usually occur between May and Sept. In the last two years, Haryana has witnessed a rise in dengue and malaria cases. In 2021, there were 11,835 dengue and 54 malaria cases reported in the state. In 2022, there were 8,996 dengue cases and 50 malaria cases. The state recorded 13 dengue deaths in 2021 and 18 in 2022. Last year 8,081 dengue and 85 malaria cases were recorded in Haryana.

Malaria outbreaks are not common in city, although other vector-borne diseases such as dengue are. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease transmitted through the bite of the female anopheles mosquito. Cases are usually reported between Feb and Sept every year.

Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and a skin rash like measles. There are four types of dengue strains. Types II and IV are more severe and require hospitalisation.

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