ON a daily basis we read in newspapers or hear on electronic media about deaths owing to dengue fever, naegleria fowleri and Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever. Many of these deaths are preventable.

Dengue occurs when a person is bitten by an aedes mosquito. It becomes fatal when dengue hemorrhagic fever occurs. We can prevent these deaths by killing mosquitoes. This is a cheaper and more life saving method.

Neglaria fowleri occurs because of amoeba which is also popularly called brain eating amoeba. These bacteria enter the body through the nostrils and reach the person’s brain and result in death of the infected person. The bacteria are to be found in lakes, fresh water and swimming pools.

Deaths from this disease can be prevented by chlorination of water and by initiating public awareness campaigns to avoid forceful cleaning of nostrils.

The Congo haemorrhagic fever occurs due to tick (Chichar) bites or contact with cattle that carry this disease. Mostly people who are in contact with livestock and work in slaughter houses are affected. Body fluids are another source of spread of Congo fever. This fdisease can also be prevented by avoiding tick bites.

Many lives can be saved if the government takes proactive measures to deal with them and the people adopt extra precautions to be safe from these diseases.

Murli Dhar
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019