13K houses in Bangalore breeding dengue larvae

More than 13,000 homes in Bangalore have been found to be breeding the dengue larvae, posing a threat of disease that has claimed four lives so far.

This figure emerged from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Health Department’s ongoing survey to determine the extent of dengue spread in the city.

The survey, which started on October 16, is being supervised by BBMP chief health officer Dr Devaki Umesh.

“The survey is currently in its first phase and is a door-to-door exercise. As of Monday, we surveyed 3,55,959 homes. Of them, 13,367 have been found to have larvae,” Dr Devaki told Express.

She added that every house that had dengue larvae was marked as D+. “We did this so that in the second phase of the survey we can concentrate only on D+ homes,” she said.

The survey mainly checked each house for possible breeding of larvae. If the larvae are found, the surveyors bring it to the notice of the residents who are given a letter explaining the precautions to be taken.

“The survey on dengue spread is being carried out by three nursing students, three mosquito controllers and a supervisor,” Dr Devaki added.

The survey so far, she said, has revealed a trend of sorts. “Now that the city has been receiving rain, the dengue larvae were found to be breeding in stagnant water that had accumulated in old tyres, pots, plastic containers and such objects. Ignorance about this leads to breeding of larvae. We want to raise awareness about dengue as part of the survey,” she said, adding that the first phase of the survey is likely to last till the end of November.