THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The epidemiological study on dengue fever will now be extended to Kozhikode and Ernakulam districts. The study, a joint collaborative project of the state Health Department and World Health Organization (WHO), had completed its first phase and is half-way through its second phase covering Thiruvananthapuram and half of Kollam.
“The study on dengue fever is progressing,” an officer with the Community Medicine Department, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, told Express. “But to determine its actual burden a dengue cohort is needed and the Health Department is in the process of developing the same.”
According to the officer, other than that of the dengue cohort, the Community Medicine Department is also working on carrying out an intervention study in vector-trap and insecticide resistance. The dengue seroprevalence study being carried out in the state is a first-of-its-kind in the country and is aimed at chalking out policy decisions to address the outbreak of dengue in the future and for finding reasons behind the outbreak in 2017. Last year, the total number of cases reported due to dengue were 21,993, whereas deaths were 165.
It was in last December a year-long study titled ‘Government of Kerala- WHO Dengue Study 2017-18’ was launched in the state. Other than that of WHO and the Health Department, various agencies like Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), State Public Health Lab and departments like Local Self Government and General Education were associating with the study.