It is recommended to follow these tips to prevent mosquito-borne diseases.

• Clean and scrub dry all the coolers in your houses, schools, workplaces, hospitals, etc
• Do not allow water to accumulate in discarded disposable cups, tins, tyres, cans, coconut shells, empty bottles, utensils, flower vases, refrigerator trays, water containers for birds/animals.
• Overhead water tanks to be covered with mosquito proof lids.
• Since wearing of protective clothes may be difficult in hot and humid weather conditions, one can be generous with the use of mosquito repellant creams to avoid daytime mosquito bites.
• It is highly recommended to make the use of insecticide treated bed nets mandatory for all patients admitted in hospitals. These nets are to be used at all times.
• In Goa only around 3% of the population(figure from a recent survey) use bednets while sleeping. It is therefore suggested to fully utilise the facilities provided by the District Health Services to get their bednets treated with insecticide on a regular basis.
• Try to fix mosquito proof screens on windows and doors of healthcare settings, houses and workplaces wherever possible.
• Identify all potential mosquito breeding sites (domestic and peridomestic), elimination through source reduction measures and use of larvivorous fish(supplied by DHS).
• Finally if every individual succeeds in preventing mosquito bites, the mosquitoes may be forced to look for alternate host to feed on and in times to come we may witness a major change in the dynamics of disease transmission.

Let us all at our own level do all that we can to prevent mosquito-borne diseases .

Dr Delia Dsouza