Beware Of Break-bone Fever Symptoms

By Pavithra Jovan De Mello

Dengue is a deadly disease that is caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito has become a common situation in our country of late.
Even with so many laws and regulation implemented by the government to control the disease and spread awareness to the public, this doesn’t seem to be effective when you look at the number of cases that have been reported this year.
The Epidemiology Unit says that during the last 3 months of the year 2012, 10685 suspected dengue cases and 46 deaths have been reported to them.
According to their statistics,  in January there have been 3892 cases, 3004 cases in February, 2543 cases in March and 1246 cases in April. An approximate 50.56% of dengue cases were reported from the Western province. The highest numbers of dengue cases were reported during the month of January and they also say that it is important to seek medical attention in the event of fever by day three of the illness.
The characteristic symptoms of dengue are sudden-onset fever, headache (typically located behind the eyes), muscle and joint pains, and a rash. The alternative name for dengue, “break-bone fever,” comes from the associated muscle and joint pains.
It seems that one of the main reasons this disease is spreading is because of pure negligence by the public, if everyone did their part, by properly disposing their garbage and waste material, rather than just throwing them around their gardens, or on the sides of the road, this problem could be controlled. We see so many plastic cups, empty coconut shells, and tires along the road, which can collect rain water easily and become an ideal habitat for these mosquitoes to breed. As there is no vaccine, prevention is mainly sought by reducing the habitat, which is our part as a community and responsible individuals to carry out. But also it is the duty of the relevant municipal and urban councils to make sure that they collect and properly dispose of the garbage that are found on the roadsides. Because unattended roadside dumps have so much of vessels that can collect rain water that these parasites will use as their breeding grounds.
Hopefully with more awareness and support from both government officials and the general public, we could make this country free of this epidemic in the future. This may seem like an difficult task, but it is the only way to save future lives from becoming victims to this deadly disease.