Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (MS)

Udupi, May 3: The Health department is holding a special operation to curb malaria and dengue in the district. The school children will be the ambassadors for the programme.

In 2022, from January to March, five cases of malaria were reported in the city. The corresponding period figure for 2021 was eight. In case of dengue, the cases were 16 from January to March 2021. But this has shot up to 75 in 2022. As many as 51 cases in Kollur, Mudoor and Jadkal have shocked the health department.

Only if the health department holds an operation on war footing against malaria and dengue, it is possible to bring them under control in the month of April.

Deputy commissioner M Kurma Rao has directed a special 10-day operation. Stickers are being placed on water tanks of houses and apartments to prevent the lids from flying during the monsoon.

Hotels and lodges are instructed to put mosquito nets on windows and doors. Street plays and Yakshagana are being used to spread awareness. The coconut shells fixed in rubber farms are emptied and put upside down also.

Dr Prashant Bhat, Malaria control officer, Udupi district health and family welfare department says, “A 25-bed ward for dengue cases will start operating in Kundapur taluk government hospital. ASHA workers, CHOs and ANMs are deputed in sufficient numbers for a month-long operation against dengue in rubber and pineapple plantations of Mudoor and Jadkal areas. Mosquito control will be done through fever survey and larvae detection. Due to the increase in temperature of the environment, the reproduction time of mosquitoes is reduced from seven days to five days. This increases the number of mosquitoes. Only when we increase human resources, it is possible to control them.”