Kathmandu/Tanahun/Mahottari, Oct. 4: Authorities and concerned stakeholders have been taking steps to eradicate mosquito larvae in a bid to prevent dengue outbreaks throughout the country. 

Health officials informed that programmes for larvae eradication and cleanliness have been initiated at the federal, provincial, district and local levels. 

“The cases of dengue rise when water accumulates in pits and hollow spaces which turn into breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We can see that all stakeholders are active in keeping their environment clean and not allowing water to accumulate,” said Dr. Hemanta Chandra Ojha, chief of the Zoonotic and Other Communicable Disease Control Section under the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD).

However, health officials argued that the preventive steps were found to be followed only after the cases of dengue rose rapidly.

Issuing a notice on Monday, the Education Development and Coordination Unit of Tanahun district has urged all the schools in the district to take part in the search and destroy campaigns of mosquito larvae.

The unit has also urged schools to generate awareness about dengue by managing some classes or during morning assemblies. The step has come at a time when the cases of dengue have risen unprecedentedly in Tanahun.

According to the dengue update by the EDCD until October 2, Tanahun did not report a single case of dengue in January, February and March of 2023. The district reported a single case in April, four in May, seven in June, three in July, 133 in August and 1,764 in September. Moreover, the district has reported 800 cases in the first two days of October. Four dengue deaths have also been recorded in the district.

“The majority of dengue cases have been reported in Vyas Municipality. However, there is a lack of manpower and space for treatment in Damauli Hospital. The federal government, Gandaki Province and Vyas Municipality have formed three separate teams of five health workers and deployed them for dengue treatment,” said Shankar Babu Adhikari, chief of the Tanahun Health Office.

Officials at the Ministry of Health and Population informed that the stakeholders were urged to clean their environment months ago. The ministry had requested government office employees to clean their office surroundings at least once a week, on Friday, by allocating 10 minutes. However, it has not been implemented by the majority of the offices.

Nevertheless, there also seems to be a lack of coordination in the data collection of dengue cases. The Health Section of Bardibas Municipality in Mahottari district informed that over 213 cases of dengue were diagnosed at the local level this year as of Monday. 

“Bardibas Hospital tested 86 individuals positive for dengue, Om Pathology tested 73 and Shuva Swastik Hospital and Janasewa Hospital tested 27 individuals each positive for dengue,” informed the health section.

On the other hand, data from the EDCD shows that only 16 cases of dengue have been reported in Mahottari until October 2.

Madhes Health Directorate informed that the cases of dengue had increased by as much as five times in Mahottari in 2023 compared to the same time last year. In 2022, 41 cases of dengue were reported until the first week of October.

“In the first week of October in 2017, the first case of dengue was reported. Within two weeks, the cases had risen to 847. It was a worrying situation that we have not forgotten. We have started taking effective precautions against dengue now,” said Prahlad Chhetri, Mayor of Bardibas. 

According to Chhetri, they had sprayed larvicides twice in June and August throughout the municipality. “Locals are being made aware of preventive measures against dengue as well,” said Mayor Chhetri.

Until October 2, 34,288 cases of dengue were reported from 76 districts, except Humla, since January 2023. Seven of the districts – Sunsari (16,067 cases), Jhapa (3,546 cases), Dhading (3,111 cases), Tanahun (2,710 cases), Morang (2,267 cases), Kaski (709 cases) and Kathmandu (679 cases) – have recorded over 500 cases.

With three of the seven districts with over 500 cases in Koshi Province, Koshi shares 68.7 per cent of the national burden of dengue. 

“The cases of dengue have declined this year if we compare to the cases last year. With 27,529 dengue cases reported in the month of September 2022, 11,580 cases were reported in September 2023. September is the peak season for dengue in Nepal,” said Dr. Ojha.