Global News Post: Dengue

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 7pt;">Photo:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 7pt;"><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo.aspx"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Contributor/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A billboard in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Colombo</st1:city></st1:place> warns of the dangers posed by dengue</span></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">COLOMBO</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (IRIN) - <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Sri Lanka</st1:country-region></st1:place> is making progress in the battle against mosquito-borne dengue fever, say health officials.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Over the last two years we have gone all out to stop the spread of dengue,” Pabha Palihawadana, head of the Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Unit, told IRIN. “Now we are seeing some of the results.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In 2011, 26,722 cases were reported - down from 34,105 cases in 2010 - the Health Ministry reported. The number of deaths dropped from 246 to 172. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Dengue infections rose suddenly in 2009, when 35,000 infections were reported - an almost six-fold rise on 2008 when there were 6,607 cases. This prompted the authorities to take action, but the number of infections continued at a high level. “That is when we knew we needed help,” Palihawadana said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In May 2010, an anti-dengue Presidential Task Force - involving the ministries of health, defence, the environment, education, and local government, and headed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa - was set up and a massive community prevention campaign launched using billboards, TV advertising and even schoolchildren to raise awareness. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">At the same time, military and civil defence forces began cleaning up areas suspected of being mosquito breeding grounds. Dumping rubbish in unauthorized locations became a criminal offence with fines of up to US$40; and public health inspectors began visiting homes in search of potential breeding places. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“It was with the fines and the environmental police that we saw the tide beginning to shift,” Palihawadana explained. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YSGbXxQo6yfXoiy3f723Ofn73Ye2UOzSfPhyphenhyphenVBsy9krI9GHiarn4AEUwmvZsUb_Ryx1Et3-0xFUIChr2AVgrHauv0FRcCD31Ad5HsvTd8FOr18cXMysCudd_XK1Y6RcKPUnqvK2dzxo/s1600/colombocityworkerfumigates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YSGbXxQo6yfXoiy3f723Ofn73Ye2UOzSfPhyphenhyphenVBsy9krI9GHiarn4AEUwmvZsUb_Ryx1Et3-0xFUIChr2AVgrHauv0FRcCD31Ad5HsvTd8FOr18cXMysCudd_XK1Y6RcKPUnqvK2dzxo/s1600/colombocityworkerfumigates.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 7pt;">Photo:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo.aspx" style="text-align: -webkit-right;" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Contributor/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 7.0pt;">A<span class="apple-converted-space"> <st1:city u2:st="on"><st1:place u2:st="on"></st1:place></st1:city></span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombo</st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>city worker fumigates a suspected mosquito breeding area<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Urban areas have been particularly susceptible to dengue: In 2011, nearly 15,000 infections and 115 deaths were reported in <st1:placename w:st="on">Western</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Province</st1:placetype>, the island’s most populous region and home to the country’s largest city, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombo</st1:place></st1:city>. Other urbanized districts with high rates of infection include <st1:city w:st="on">Kandy</st1:city> (1,553), <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Galle</st1:place></st1:city> (831) and Rathnapura (1,078). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Presidential Task Force has so far set up over 15,300 committees at district and village level dedicated to dengue eradication. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Health Ministry spokesman W. M. D. Wanninayake explained that until the task force was set up dengue was considered a medical problem, but “with the task force it is now a national priority”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Zapping the larvae <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Imports, and local production, of Bacillus Thuriengiensis (BTI), a bacteria used to control dengue vector larvae, were stepped up. BTI was released in breeding grounds in high-risk areas, while at the same time efforts were made to boost training for health workers, and set up dedicated dengue treatment facilities in at least 50 hospitals. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Health experts from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thailand</st1:place></st1:country-region> were brought in to train senior health professionals who then cascaded the training down to district level. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Speedier referrals for patients with haemorrhagic fever have helped reduce the number of fatalities. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“We have to commend the government of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sri Lanka</st1:place></st1:country-region> for adjusting the national management guidelines for dengue patients when admitted to hospital,” Kumari Navaratne, a public health specialist at the World Bank said. “This has drastically reduced the complications of dengue patients while in hospital and therefore reduced the case fatality rate.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The government is currently drafting a National Dengue Prevention Act, due to become law in mid-2012, Wanninayake said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Under the new legislation, the authorities will be allowed to impose spot fines of up to US$400 and jail terms of six months on anyone who fails to clean up potential breeding areas. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to the World Health Organization, there is no effective vaccine against dengue or drug treatment for those who become infected - and there are an estimated 50 million dengue infections worldwide each year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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SRI LANKA: Action against Dengue Beginning To Pay Off

Photo: Contributor/IRIN A billboard in Colombo warns of the dangers posed by dengue COLOMBO (IRIN) - Sri Lanka is making prog...