25% of total dengue patients in Sri Lanka are school children - health officials
June 11, 2023 09:44 pm
The National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) says that around 25% of Sri Lanka’s total dengue patients are school children.
The Director of the NDCU, Dr. Nalin Ariyaratne emphasized that all necessary measures should be taken to prevent the spread of dengue through schools, adding that the number of dengue figures reported within the past few months in the country is over 42,000.
Nearly 50% of the total dengue patients have been registered from the Western Province, according to health authorities.
Meanwhile, health officials warn that this year will possibly become the year with the highest number of dengue cases reported in the country’s history.
The epidemiologists further warn that the condition may worsen into a large scale dengue outbreak.
Commenting on the matter, the Secretary of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Dr. Haritha Alutge expressed that around 20% of the total Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Divisions have become dengue high-risk areas so far.
In addition, a significant rate of dengue spreading is also observed within the Kandy, Puttlam, Kurunegala, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts.
Meanwhile, the dengue control programmes are currently being carried out across the island.
