Instances of the illness have increased sharply this year compared with the last few years and in recent days the authorities have said it needs to be tackled “on a war footing”.
In Colombo and others in Sri Lanka, the mosquitos that carry dengue are on the rampage.
Each year for a decade there have been more than 5,000 cases of the illness, but this year already 9,200 have developed the fever with muscle pain, pain behind the eyes, red spots on the skin and sometimes severe bleeding.
A little under 5 percent of cases are fatal, and there’s no vaccine. Two types of quite similar mosquitos are the culprits, says the chief epidemiologist in the Health Ministry, Dr Paba Palihawadana.
"The mosquito is a small black coloured one with white spots on their legs and on the body. It is a day biter. So it is mostly active in the morning and in the evening".
disease of "uncontrolled urbanisation"
The insects need water to lay their eggs, thriving anywhere where liquid might collect, such as tanks, gutters, discarded containers or coconut shells – and helped by the current rainy season.
Dr Palihawadana says it’s getting worse because of uncontrolled urbanisation, with more careless waste disposal, and it’s spreading from cities to semi-urban areas.
The anti-dengue campaign began a week ago and involves civil defence committees going from house to house – the same that were mobilised for the recently ended military war.
The message is being taken to schools
"So we have started elimination of breeding places. Then awareness of public. Then improving treatment facilities in hospital. And joining with other ministries to have an integrated programme" Dr Palihawadana says .
The message is being taken to schools. The police, too, are getting involved. They have the powers to prosecute and fine people who don’t remove mosquito-breeding sites.
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