by Melani Manel Perera

Dengue cases rise almost three-fold over last year. Endemic, the disease affects mostly in marshland areas and slums. Almost all districts are affected.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka’s health authorities have sounded the alarm against a possible dengue epidemic. The Health Ministry declared a national red alert as the number of dengue-related deaths almost triple over last year.

Dr. Hasitha Tissera, a Government Epidemiology Unit specialist, reported that the number of deaths this year from dengue had risen to 63 against 27 deaths last year.

“We see a sharp increase in deaths and dengue cases from almost all parts of the country,” Dr. Tissera said.

The most affected areas are Colombo, Gampaha, Kandy, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Matale, Puttalam, Hambantota, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts.

Dengue fever is a water-born infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes that breed in marshland or where installations are inadequate to cope with water supply, sewer treatment and garbage collection.

It is endemic in Sri Lanka even though the authorities have tried to keep it under control through prevention and health education programmes and land reclamation/drainage.

According to the Health Ministry statistics nearly 4,000 dengue cases have been reported in the first five months of this year and involve mostly children in the country’s urban slums and marshland areas.

• sri
• lanka
• dengue
• fever
• mosquitoes
• infectious
• disease
• swamps
• marshland
• slums
• children