By Ishtartha Wellaboda
With the number of dengue cases reported in the first two and half months of the year has reached 9,655 with 60 patients reported dead, the health authorities warned that this year will record the worst number of cases with monsoons expected to begin next month.
Last year saw 3,093 cases in the same period. Colombo and Jaffna Districts record higher vulnerability to the disease.
According to the Epidemiology Unit the highest number of dengue deaths (14) so far has been reported from Jaffna.
“So far, 14 deaths have been reported and 11 deaths are from the Colombo District.

From the total of 1,197 dengue cases reported from the Colombo District, 383 were reported from the Colombo Municipal area alone. The total number of dengue cases reported in the same period last year was 572, with 222 cases reported from the Colombo Municipal area and 350 cases reported from other areas in the district. The data seems to suggest an unfriendly rise in the spread of the disease in the densely populated Colombo District,” an epidemiologist said.
Meanwhile, over Rs.139,500 was collected in the Colombo Municipal area last year as fines from people who harboured mosquito breeding places. According to sources at the Colombo Municipal Council, out of 122 people who were warned against having mosquito breeding places in their compounds 47 had failed to comply. Accordingly, legal action was taken against those 47 individuals.
The disease situation in Jaffna has reached an alarming stage with a total of 1,723 cases reported during the past two months. The disease situation in Jaffna is especially alarming because there were only 1,159 cases of dengue reported from Jaffna for the whole of last year.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry officials were pointing fingers at local government bodies for neglecting their duties in battling the spread of the disease.