Daily Times

Dengue with its strains of DEN1, DEN2 and DEN 3 is spread through Andes Mosquitoes. Before 1970 there were only nine countries that had experienced dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). This has now escalated to over 120 countries. After 2011, when the epicenter of this disease was Lahore, the DHF becomes endemic in Pakistan.

Dengue is necessarily a post-monsoon phenomenon where countering strategy starts at around February of each year. The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore with heightened sense of community services started the campaign much earlier than the present outbreak. Despite taking the number of measures, the prevalence of dengue is due to three things which are probably unpredicted rains, use of unbranded insecticides sprays by domestic users and the horizontal flight of Andes from peridomestic environment to domestic abode. This exactly has happened in the DHA where the daily routine of spray of insecticide in the streets and roads has forced the Andes to take refuge inside.

The DHA Lahore every year takes a lot of measures both in the realm of active and passive domain. The maintenance and disease control branch starts spraying all roads, streets, markets, public places and alleys from pre-dengue period. The clean water deposition is dismantled and residents are not allowed to have an open cesspool. To generate a sheer sense of awareness, leaflets were distributed amongst the residents. At every prominent and eye-catching place, the hoardings are already donned with measures to be adopted to prevent dengue. The awareness campaign amongst 40,000 residents of the DHA also widened the already established system of addressing the complaints regarding the general cleanliness of the area, and particularly the measures for elimination of all vector born diseases. The DHA administration is wholeheartedly committed to addressing this issue with the entire wherewithal. Incidentally at around 1,000 to 1,200 places, dengue larvae was found as per DCO Lahore, whereas in the DHA, the larvae affirmative areas were found to be nine or 10 places only.

The DHA is surrounded by different localities where probably such stringent anti-dengue measures are not taken. The cleanliness and availability of green foliage in the DHA are on one hand the boon for environment friendliness and on the other becomes bane of vulnerability. The prevention strategy is the hallmark of the overall campaign against dengue in the DHA. It includes advising residents to wear full sleeves cloths, use of repellents, coils, electric vapour mats, impregnated bed nets, traps lights, magnetic repellents and curtains, etc.

The prevention and eradication campaign is a multi-facet phenomenon in which every stakeholder is to be as aggressive as the one who is facing the brunt. Remember, there is no back or front end, it is a wholesome affair, emptying the bucket is required rather than passing the buck. The DHA has also formulated a delineated response mechanism in which the local foci is identified within 28 hours by identifying the specific house or peridomestic area and curtailing the spread through even aggressive measures. To accentuate the same in the DHA Medical Centre, kits are available to ascertain the presence of the virus on the first day of the fever in a patient.

The DHA has not even neglected the area of construction activities going on within the community. Special squads steer free to identify any such sites where due to clean water or debris the larvae can grow. The DHA is committed to giving a better life to its residents and the preventions from any endemic vector borne disease are the keystone of the overall strategy. The vector seems to be very strong this season due to unprecedented rains but our collective resolve to address this problem will bear the fruit. Dengue in this part of the world is endemic now, what we need is the collective synergy of people meshed with paraphernalia of local government, let us take two to tango.