Fogger bitten by mosquitoes on duty, dies of dengue in Delhi

New Delhi Sept 6: This would be like saying that a doctor died of cough. In a shocking incident, a North Delhi Municipal Corporation employee, deployed for checking mosquito breeding in the area, has died of

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Tarun (26), the domestic breeding checker (DBC) who died on Sunday, was apparently bitten by the aedes aegypti mosquito, the dengue carrier, during his routine checks and awareness programmes, official sources said. This was the first death of the year by this vectorborne disease.

The corporation requires 417 fogging machines, it has only 311

India Today reported that a local doctor had referred Tarun to a tertiary care hospital after he showed symptoms of dengue on August 28. He was later admitted to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh where he died on Sunday afternoon. The hospital authorities said they had sent the report to the Corporation on Monday. Though the civic body refused to confirm the cause of his death, the incident reflects authorities' failure to deal with the dengue menace that grips the city almost every year.

"The DBCs are not trained properly to perform activities related to breeding checks and destroying larvae. The governing body should ensure that their breeding checkers are properly briefed and trained with mock drills before officially sending them to breeding sites," said Mukesh Goel, leader of the Opposition, North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

He also said while the corporation requires 417 fogging machines, it has only 311. "Rest of the machines NMC hires privately. We have raised this issue in the standing committee several times but to no avail," he added. Adding to the dismay, the health and dengue relief department in the NMC is facing severe staff crunch. "How do you expect to fight dengue, if you are not prepared for it, with neither the trained manpower nor the equipment," he asked.

Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia has directed health officials of all the three municipalities to take proper action against people encouraging dengue breeding.

OneIndia News