Indian Capital Ravaged By Dengue Fever on HWN DENGUE UPDATE

At dusk, the foggers come out to spray their sticky-sweet clouds of diesel smoke and insecticide across the Indian capital. Mothers scold their children for wearing short sleeves. Posters glued to signposts warn about the perils of neighborhood puddles.

Such efforts to stop mosquitoes from spreading dengue fever in New Delhi have failed to keep the city from its biggest outbreak in almost two decades: more than 10,190 registered cases, including 32 deaths. Experts say it didn't need to be this way, and blame health officials for being slow on both prevention work and medical response.

They say, for example, that the Delhi municipal government should have started much sooner and anticipated a longer-than-usual mosquito-breeding season months ago, when weather forecasters predicted this year's monsoon would extend beyond September.

"If they clean up in time, if they have those anti-mosquito, anti-larval measures on time, they can contain dengue," general physician Devendra Jain said in the small single room, crammed with patients, where he operates his private practice in south Delhi.

Some officials reject the idea that the high numbers are a result of neglect, and instead say they prove the city is simply conducting more tests. Some infections go unreported every year because some people with dengue fever don't seek medical treatment, and others visit doctors who don't report cases.

Health officials also note that while the number of cases this year has almost surpassed the 1996 high of 10,252, the death toll is far lower than the 423 who died from dengue 19 years ago. There are no statistics on dengue for years before 1996.

Three weeks into October, new cases were still being reported. The Holy Family Hospital alone said it was still detecting about 27 cases a day on average, down from a September peak of 75 cases a day.

Dengue leaves its victims exhausted and in great pain, though it is rarely fatal, claiming less than 1 percent of those infected. There is no cure; patients need rest and to be monitored and treated for symptoms, including high fever, dehydration, skin rash, exhaustion and a low blood platelet count.

It is not rocket science," said Manish Kakkar, a researcher at the Public Health Foundation of India, a research and consulting group. "We know what we have to do, but what happens in India is that the public health measures are not adequate both in terms of quantity and quality.

Source: WWWN, DWN AFRICA