Colombo, Jan 11 (NIA) – Sri Lanka has seen a steep rise in dengue cases with a thousand people detected with the virus in the first 10 days of January, the Health Ministry said here on Wednesday.
According to programs carried out by the National Dengue Prevention Unit and the Health Ministry, last year over 2 million premises had been checked for possible dengue breeding grounds .
Out of these numbers, over 40,000 premises with dengue larvae were found, while over 450,000 premises were found to be possible dengue breeding grounds.
Last year, authorities filed legal action against 81 schools and 713 private institutions for not maintaining safe and clean premises.
On the request of the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry had also issued a circular to school principals requesting them to ensure that schools are free from dengue.
Sri Lanka will continue its dengue prevention programs this year and is also discussing revising the prevailing rules and regulations and fines on people who do not maintain clean premises.
Last month, health ministry officials warned that Sri Lanka was likely to face a dengue epidemic if the number of infected patients continued to rise.
Last year 48,000 people were infected with dengue with 76 deaths reported.
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