THIS refers to the news item wherein the Sindh chief minister has approved Rs275 million for the dengue control programme.
It also says that `the health department took some steps and launched an awareness drive...` (Feb 26).
Some details of the programme have been mentioned such as surveillance, laboratory testing, isolation ward, etc. while there has been no mention of `preventive methods`. It is assumed that those factors will be addressed, for example, the `vector control` as recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The Gates Foundation supported an innovative project titled `Modifying Mosquito Population Age Structure to Eliminate Dengue Transmission`in the recent past. A research team from Australia successfully infected lifespan of Aedes aegypti mosquitos with a strain that shorteneditslifespan.
As a result of the reduced lifespan, the infection, the transmission abilities of the mosquito were markedly reduced.
Successful trials were carried out in Vietnam and Indonesia where the disease is endemic.
Just spraying insecticides as a preventive measure and educating the people will not control dengue in our region.It will require extraordinary efforts and out-of-the-box thinking. Otherwise dengue will continue to infect people, resulting in fatalities.
