Dibrugarh in Assam has witnessed a huge decline in vector borne diseases in the past three years after measures to curb six such diseases were ramped up under the National Vector Born Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) in the district.
The district has recorded only a single case of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and 4 cases of acute encephalitic syndrome (AES) during January 1 to July 9 this year.
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One person with AES also succumbed to the disease during the period.
Dibrugarh, prior to few years, was considered a hot bed of JE and AES cases in the state.
There has been a significant drop in JE and AES cases in Dibrugarh district compared to the past two years.
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In 2019, the district recorded 33 JE cases and 285 AES cases. Additionally, there were 11 JE related deaths and 31 AES related deaths that year.
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The number of cases came down to 13 JE and 29 AES cases in 2020. Two JE related deaths and five AES related deaths were reported last year.
Siddhartha Saikia, district consultant of the directorate of NVBDCP said, “Due to the sincere efforts of the health department the cases have declined in Dibrugarh this year. June, July and August are usually the months when the infection peaks.”
“We have so far detected one JE case and four AES cases in the district and we are quite hopeful that the total cases will be quite negligible this year,” he said.
“Awareness among people, improvement in facilities at primary and community health centres and district hospitals and regular immunization of children have not only brought down the number of cases, but also checked deaths,” he further said.
The health department has been organizing regular awareness campaigns urging people to remove stagnant water around their houses and surroundings as such water is an apt breeding place for the JE transmitting Culex mosquito.
“So far we have conducted 2,452 door-to-door visits to create awareness. We have distributed 25,217 medicated mosquito nets among the people,” Saikia said.
“Fogging is being done in the rural pockets as well as urban vulnerable pockets of Dibrugarh town like Paltanbazar, Dibrujan and Loharpatty.