How to Eradicate Dengue Virus from Sri Lanka
By a special correspondent Sri Lanka is under the grip of a severe epidemic of Dengue fever and Dengue haemorrhagic fever. The epidemic did not happen over a short period. Dengue has been in Sri Lanka since 1962. However, it was not a major public health problem. The disease was progressing at a very low rate. Since about 2004, the numbers of cases started going up every year and accelerated dramatically from about 2008. The authorities have not been idle during this period. A dengue control programme has been in operation throughout. In recent years, there has been a National Dengue Control programme involving most government departments, the police and even the armed forces , coordinated at the highest level. As Graph 2 shows their efforts have not been in vain. The Breteau Index (BI) which is an index of the presence of mosquito breeding sites have continued to fall until 2012. It would be even lower now, 5 years later. But during the same period the ...
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