Precautions, Symptoms & Cure: Things You Need To Keep In Mind To Prevent Dengue Fever & Malaria

Cases of malaria have gone up with the onset of monsoon. Delhi has till now reported 26 cases of dengue, 10 cases of chikungunya and 51 cases of malaria. According to a report by SDMC (South Delhi Municipal Corporation), the city has witnessed 60 cases of malaria in 2019 so far. As many as 25 cases of the vector-borne disease were reported in June 2018.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is passed from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. While dengue and chikungunya are both viral diseases transmitted by aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant clean water.

Civic bodies have stepped up the drive and covered more than 3 lakh houses across the city to ensure there is no mosquito breeding in Delhi. Mosquito breeding sites were found in around 34,000 houses and prosecution has been launched against 2,241 residents.

Symptoms of malaria:

• High fever
• Profuse sweating
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Anemia
• Muscle pain

Cure of malaria:

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease. The primary objective of treatment is to ensure complete cure, that is the rapid and full elimination of the Plasmodium parasite from the patient¡¯s blood, in order to prevent severe disease or death, and to chronic infection that leads to malaria-related anaemia. Treatment is meant to reduce transmission of the infection to others.

Prevention of malaria:

Papaya leaf juice can be great for boosting platelet count in people suffering with malaria and dengue. Platelet count comes down drastically in patients, and it can actually have fatal outcomes.

It is important for doctors to work towards boosting platelet count in dengue patients and for this papaya juice has been scientifically proven to be beneficial, mentions lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho in his Facebook live session.

Symptoms of dengue:

• Sudden high fever
• Severe headaches
• Pain behind the eyes
• Severe joint and muscle pain
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Skin rash, which appears two to five days after the onset of fever

Cure of dengue:

There is no specific medicine to treat dengue infection. If you think you may have dengue fever, you should use pain relievers with acetaminophen and avoid medicines with aspirin, which could worsen bleeding.

You should also rest, drink plenty of fluids, and see your doctor. If you start to feel worse in the first 24 hours after your fever goes down, you should get to a hospital immediately to be checked for complications.

Prevention of dengue:

All vessels used to store water ¨C including coolers and bird baths ¨C should be emptied and scrubbed once a week to prevent breeding.

Papaya juice is also beneficial for dengue patients as it boost the platelet count. Here are the benefits to drink papaya juice during dengue and malaria:

• Luke stresses on the fact that it is important to have your allopathic treatment going along with papaya leaf juice consumption, in case you have been diagnosed with dengue or malaria. He says that papaya leaf juice will make sure that your red blood cells and platelets increase. Red blood cells are required for oxygen supply to trillions of cells in the body.
• Better oxygen supply in the body can give a boost to your immune system, thus aiding quicker recovery from dengue.
• Papaya leaf juice can also help in reducing fever.
• Papaya leaf juice can be beneficial for people with a weak immune system. You can have it on a daily basis too to give a boost to your immunity.

To raise awareness, the union health minister, Harsh Vardhan, suggested taking community support in spreading awareness about the breeding of mosquitoes and appointing children as ¡®Swastya Ambassadors¡¯ or champions for the drive. For the last two years, the Delhi government has been running awareness campaigns with the help of resident welfare organisations and school children.