Rise in dengue:

CMC inspects montessories

by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi

Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) began inspecting City montessories from yesterday for mosquito breeding grounds following a rise in the number of dengue cases. "The number of dengue affected children who are below five years has shown a 50 per cent rise in the City," said Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, the CMC's Chief Medical Officer, explaining the clean-up drive at montessories.

"However, the number of schoolchildren has shown a reduction of 50 per cent," Kariyawasam said. The CMC authorities yesterday renewed its warning to residents to be alert to the spread of dengue amid three infant deaths within a period of month.

They revealed that opulent areas in Colombo such as Cinnamon Gardens, Bambalapitiya, Kollupitiya, Havelock Town areas are high risk areas, where most cases were reported from.

"Those three children were below five years. They were from the heart of Colombo city including Longdon Place and Central Colombo," CMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam told the Daily News yesterday.

The CMC's warning comes as the Epidemiological Department reports confirm that the highest number of dengue patients are reported from Colombo and its suburbs. "Overall, the number of total cases this year has shown a 30 per cent reduction compared to last year," added D. Kariyawasam.

Meanwhile, Director of the Epidemiology Unit of the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe said islandwide, dengue cases have reduced by 60 per cent. Only 1,715 cases have been reported so far while last year it was 15,000 cases.

The highest number of cases have been reported from Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara while a significant number of cases have been reported from Kandy, Matara, Ratnapura and Kurunegala. They have launched several prevention programs to eradicate the spread of dengue. The Municipal authorities are taking stern action against households and institutions who fail to clean up their environments. Under this, residents who fail to clean up their environment face the risk of prosecution within 48 hours.

So far this year, the Municipal officials have filed 132 Court cases against those who failed to adhere to Municipal regulations. While attributing the increase of dengue cases to the rapid urbanisation and poor attention to keep one's environment clean.