Dengue teams often not allowed to enter posh colonies in Ludhiana, says doctor

The doctor recalled incidents including ‘harassment’ of field workers while handing out challans in posh localities of Ludhiana

The local doctors alleged that the posh localities in the city have virtually become ‘no-go zones’ for dengue teams of the health department as they are often not allowed to enter these areas.

The tally of dengue cases this year rose to 237 on Tuesday, officials said, and added that 156 of these infections were recorded in October. (HT File)

“When we try to go into houses for regular inspections to see if the conditions there are likely to become breeding ground for dengue-causing mosquitoes, we aren’t often allowed inside,” said district epidemiologist Dr Sheetal Narang.

She added that at times, people resisted citing safety.

She alleged this deterred them from conducting the important exercise of finding out breeding grounds for mosquitoes. “We can’t force people to let us in. It is important to conduct these exercises. We will try to explain it better to them,” Dr Sheetal said.

The doctor recalled incidents including ‘harassment’ of field workers while handing out challans. “The teams conduct anti dengue drives every Friday and issue challans on spot. For routine inspections, we visit the homes and then send workers to deliver the challans. Initially, these workers faced harassment while delivering,” she alleged.

Dengue tally rises to 237

The tally of dengue cases this year rose to 237 on Tuesday, officials said, and added that 156 of these infections were recorded in October. “Last year, the cases started to rise in August. But this time, the spike started in October,” Dr Sheetal said.

In August last year, the district saw 109 dengue cases, a number that fell to 9 this year. A similar dip, from 183 to 35 cases, was also seen in September.

Dr Sheetal said there is no data on dengue deaths as it was sent to the state government for review and couldn’t be made public at this time.