Staff Reporter
Panaji
Goa has witnessed a decrease in dengue cases in the first two months, compared to last year. The state has reported a total of 16 confirmed cases of dengue in January and February, this year, as against 55 cases during the corresponding period last year.
This year, seven cases were reported in January, while nine have been reported in February.
“Last year, Goa reported 234 cases of dengue in the pre-transmission season, which were mainly due to unsafe water storage practices. So, this year, to prevent cases of dengue prior to the transmission season, we changed our strategy which has helped us,” said Dr Kalpana Mahatme, State Programme Officer and Deputy Director of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP).
As part of preventive measures, the health workers are conducting house-to-house visits in high risk areas to check for mosquito breeding and are also conducting regular visits to the construction sites to check for any imported cases.
“We are also conducting fever surveys. If any fever case is reported at any of the outpatient departments (OPDs) of any health centres, the health workers conduct fever surveys in the nearby houses and check for mosquito breeding and also if there are any cases of fever in the vicinity,”
she said.
“Also, source reduction drives are conducted on a weekly basis sub-centre wise,” she said.
Of the seven cases reported in January, three were reported in Siolim and one each in Mapusa, Candolim, Aldona and Navelim.
Of the nine cases reported in February, two each were reported in Mapusa and Sankhali and one each in Pernem, Siolim, Bicholim, Saligao and Margao.
