Doctors caution Hyderabad residents as dengue cases surface

Hyderabad: Sporadic cases of dengue are reported in the city due to various reasons including water accumulation in tanks, garden pots and trays, animal feeder pots and plastics in garbage, according to experts.

Doctors in the city's children's hospitals say that they have one to four patients undergoing treatment for dengue. The problem has been identified in areas where residents store fresh water for drinking, usage and also in flower pot trays that are not completely dried regularly. Dr M. Karuna, a senior paediatrician, says, "Reporting of confirmed cases by hospitals must be carried out and they must notify the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) about the disease. This will help them carry out fogging operations in the area. Dengue mosquitoes cannot travel more than 500 meters which makes it easy to carry out the operations."

In a recent drive by the GHMC in city areas, they found the breeding grounds in empty cement flowerpots, construction sites where water is stored for usage by labourers and also in water storage tanks kept outside for drinking water purposes.

Chief entomologist Dr Ram Babu says, "Regular activities of awareness are carried out in all divisions and larva in many places has been destroyed. In the awareness programmes, each division attends 3,500 houses ensuring dry day is emphasised."

Garbage bins with leftover plastic bags, empty plastic bottles and other small containers holding a few milliliters of water also cause mosquito breeding.

In a recent incident in Ram Nagar near Uppal, it was found that water in these leftovers was the breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes.

Dr Vijay Anand, a senior paediatrician says, "There are a few cases of dengue now and they are not like that which was observed in 2019. We must be alert and follow the process of not allowing freshwater stagnation to prevent the disease."