PANAJI: The outbreak of dengue in Vasco remains a major concern for the directorate of health services, which has formed a rapid response team to deal with infections in the port town.
Last month itself, Vasco reported 40 dengue cases. Apart from these 40, neighbouring Cortalim reported nine dengue cases, and the two locations comprised the entirety of South Goa’s dengue caseload that month.
“While Cortalim has seen a dip since, Vasco continues to report high (numbers) because of unhealthy water storage practices in the slums,” said Dr Kalpana Mahatme, state in-charge of the national vector-borne disease control programme.
“We had a meeting in Vasco. The chief officer of the municipality has agreed to give us six municipality employees who will help us in a source reduction drive,” Mahatme said.
A timetable has also been prepared and teams, including rapid response units, have been constituted to focus on problem areas in Vasco.
Mahatme said that just focusing on a case-to-case basis doesn’t help, but it’s important to destroy the source of infection in the area.
While September saw 60 cases of dengue reported from various parts of North Goa, she said as many as 19 were reported from Panaji. The remaining cases were reported in Mapusa, Candolim, and Porvorim’s Malim jetty area.
“Dengue infections were detected among migrant laborers working on fishing trawlers, soon after their arrival to Goa. No sooner did they arrive, they were tested for dengue and found positive,” she said.
Prior to the cases found at Malim jetty, she said, the Porvorim center reported hardly any dengue infections. But suddenly last month, it reported seven cases, she said.
Mahatme said although the total number of cases reported in September were more than those reported during the corresponding period in 2020, parallels can’t be drawn, as during that period (last September), the first wave of the pandemic was underway. Most health workers were engaged in Covid work. As many as 35 dengue cases were reported in September 2020, and from January to September that same year, 283 cases were reported.
