Monsoons and Mosquitos

Mosquito Bite

After the monsoons visit India, the mosquitos follow. Many places in India collect household water in drums and plastic containers that lack adequate screening. These become breeding sites for Aedes aegyti, the most important vector of Dengue and Chikungunya. Mosquitos also commonly breed at construction sites with ponding water and in Desert (Evaporative) coolers. Money allocated for mosquito control is not used effectively.   Getting the public to eliminate these breeding sites is challenging.

The Times of India reports well over 12,000 cases of Chikungunya and 27,000 cases of Dengue. 60 deaths due to Dengue have been reported and the number of people infected is anticipated to rise during the next two months. As a consequence hospitals in some areas are flood with patients beyond capacity. More effective mosquito control could result in large savings in medical costs and reduction in personal health problems. As new mosquito diseases spread around the world, the costs of not instituting an appropriate public health response to these mosquitos and diseases is a hard lesson to learn.