Panaji: With constructions on the rise, the directorate of health services (DHS) has added Saligao and Aldona health centres to its list of high-risk areas.
“There are many constructions under way at Aldona and Saligao. With construction comes labour colonies and migrant settlements where there are unsafe water storage practices leading to mosquito breeding,” said Dr Kalpana Mahatme, deputy director of health services and in-charge of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.
Stating that the high-risk areas are monitored every week by the DHS, Mahatme said, “We have instructed health workers to take proactive measures so that we don’t get any cases in the high-risk areas,” she added.
The high-risk areas include Candolim, Siolim, Panaji, Margao, Porvorim, Chimbel, Vasco, Saligao and Aldona.
Around 50 houses in Candolim were issued show cause notices last month after 49 suspected cases were detected. Dr Roshan Nazareth, health officer at Candolim primary health centre (PHC) said the notices were issued as mosquito breeding hotspots were found in the areas.
The suspected cases, Nazareth said, were detected in two villages, and one ward of Nerul. Of the suspected 49 cases, only one was confirmed dengue, but every case is taken seriously, he said.
Recently, there was an upsurge in dengue cases in Gaondongrim, Canacona. On investigation, the DHS found that construction workers from a neighbouring state were renovating a house in the area and are suspected to have brought dengue into the village. “Once they completed their work and left the village, mosquitoes that bit them got infected with dengue and went on spreading the virus to other villagers,” Mahatme said.
Health minister Vishwajit Rane said that prompt action was taken to address the issue in the area with house-to-house inspections to eradicate breeding sites, fever surveys and awareness campaigns, besides anti-larval measures in stagnant water areas and fogging to eliminate the infected adult mosquitoes. “These interventions led to a noticeable decline in the number of cases reported,” he added.
Goa has reported more than two times the number of dengue cases for the first five months of this year as compared to the same period last year. The DHS said these cases in the pre-transmission season, prior to the monsoon, are primarily due to the surge of the disease in the neighbouring states.
“We have instructed health centres to investigate as soon as the first suspected dengue case is received and conduct fever surveys by going door-to-door to check for any other case in the area,” Mahatme said.
