Dengue Outbreaks May Be Exacerbated By Poor Vector Surveillance

(CTN News) – As ‘Aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever, is being found in abundance in this region, the possibility of a severe dengue fever outbreak cannot be ruled out in the coming months.

On Saturday, ‘The News’ collected data which revealed that the number of larvae being found by DHA Rawalpindi teams is much higher in a number of areas under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation Rawalpindi, Potohar Town, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, and Chaklala Cantonment Board, despite the fact that vector surveillance is less effective this year than it was in 2022 and 2023.

Data shows that at this point in time in 2022, the district health department checked as many as 2196377 spots under vector surveillance and in 2023, the number of spots checked was 2329714, while so far this year, 1372873 dengue fever vectors have been monitored, indicating that the level of surveillance is significantly low.

Despite this, the number of positive spots tested under vector surveillance in 2022 and 2023 is still higher.

Dengue fever vectors were found in 2844 spots in 2022, 2,552 spots in 2023, and 3,080 spots have been tested positive this year as of April 27.

Additionally, the data reveals that in 2022 and 2023, the district health department Rawalpindi teams checked 981,000 and 959,225 houses, respectively, while in this year, they have checked 361,501 houses. As of now, 732 households have been tested positive for the vector, which is still a much higher number than last year. The number of positive houses in 2022 was 332 while the number in 2023 was 382.

It is important to strengthen the vector surveillance system to prevent and control fever outbreaks well in advance. An area with a weak vector surveillance system is more likely to experience a fever outbreak that is more severe.

The situation may be termed as alarming particularly because almost all risk factors including rains, rising temperatures, infected travellers and heaps of garbage and rubbish dumps as well as dengue fever vector larvae and adult mosquitoes are very much in existence in this region of the country.

At least four confirmed cases of dengue fever have already been reported from Rawalpindi district.

In addition, dengue fever vector breeding season is almost upon us. An outbreak of dengue fever can be prevented by preventing mosquito breeding and controlling their growth inside and outside homes during the outbreak.

Now is the time for both government authorities and individuals to take precautionary measures religiously.

To avoid a dengue outbreak, medical experts advocate destruction of breeding sites of mosquitoes mechanically that can harbour larvae to develop into adult mosquitoes – this is a must for preventing an outbreak.

‘Aedes aegypti’ and ‘Aedes albopictus’ are both fever mosquitoes that transmit the disease as the females carry one of the four types of dengue virus from the dengue patient to the healthy person.

In general, dengue fever vectors lay their first eggs at the beginning of May, and mosquito densities are maximal in early July, late August, and early September. Egg laying activity continues until November.

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