Visakhapatnam: The southwest monsoon weather conditions have this time not only brought good rains to the city, but have also contributed indirectly to an alarming rise in the number of dengue cases as compared to last year.According to Dr A Hemanth, chief medical officer of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), around 700 dengue cases were reported in the city from January 1 till date this year against less than 200 cases last year same period.Dr Hemanth attributed the rise of the dengue cases to the favourable weather conditions. He said that temperature and humidity in the city this monsoon season favoured the growth of the dengue mosquitoes - Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes.“The mosquitoes live and born in fresh water so there would be no link with the sanitary conditions of the city. In such cases, citizens would also be acted main stakeholders for spread of the diseases and mosquito growth with improper cleaning of the vessels that store water for long days,” Hemanth told TOI.Dr Hemanth said that current temperature is neither too hot nor too cold and this is a suitable temperature for the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes to breed.Dr Hemanth said that Citizens also should support the civic body by strictly following the rules like keeping the surroundings clean like the Citizens Movement in Srilanka, wherein mosquitoes were completely eradicated and fevers like dengue and malaria too.The officials from the department of medical and health said that Vizag is only city in the north coastal Andhra Pradesh that registered maximum number of dengue cases when compared with other urban areas in the region.Total 2245 number of dengue cases were reported from January 1 till date in all four coastal districts. Of the number, 1800 dengue cases were reported from Visakhapatnam district including 700 cases from GVMC.“Visakhapatnam district registered 1800 cases this year against 980 last year. We are taking all our possible measures to control the situation,” Visakhapatnam district medical and health officer Dr R Ramesh said.Collector Pravin Kumar said that he held a teleconference with the medical and health staff in mandal level. The village health staff were asked to conduct Village Walk in every Dengue hit village.Chief Minister held video-conference with the collectors of all these four districts over the cases. Chief minister would hold teleconference with any of the medical officer in the region on Monday to check the progress.

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