Pakistan government gave a nod to procure 6.2 million mosquito nets from India, in a bid to protect the public from vector-borne diseases after the last month's devastating floods

Vector Borne Diseases

Around five million people in flood-hit Pakistan, including children, may fall sick due to the outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhea in the next four to 12 weeks, health experts have warned.
Floods triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains have caused widespread havoc across Pakistan, killing over 1,100 people so far and destroying farmlands. Those who survived nature's fury are facing health issues, the News International reported.
As the condition stays grim, health officials said that people in the flooded areas of Sindh, Balochistan, southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are likely to get diarrhea, cholera, gastroenteritis, typhoid and vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria.
It is estimated that a disease outbreak would initially require medicines and medical supplies worth Rs 1 billion, they said, and urged donors, philanthropists and common people to donate these after consulting health experts and officials of rescue and welfare

However, the rate of reduction was lower than it had been before the pandemic

These diseases account for more than 17 per cent of all infectious diseases, causing over seven lakh deaths across the world annually.

Health and general insurers will soon be permitted to offer specific insurance cover to the public for treatment of vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya

Delhi's municipal corporations on Tuesday launched a campaign to prevent the spread of dengue and other vector-borne diseases in the national capital

Spike in vector-borne diseases points to governance failure

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	<strong>What is a vector?</strong></div>
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	A vector is an organism or insect that transmits an infectious pathogen from an infected animal or human host to an uninfected living being. Arthropod vectors are ectotherms that are sensitive to climatic factors.</div>
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	Survival, development, habitat suitability, and reproduction rates of vectors are influenced by the weather conditions.</div>
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	<strong>What are vector-borne diseases?</strong></div>
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	Human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria that are transmitted by mosquitoes, sandflies, triatomine bugs, blackflies, ticks, tsetse flies, mites, snails and lice.</div>
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	Vector-borne diseases are infections transmitted by the bite of an infected arthropod (invertebrate animals) species, such as mosquitoes, fleas, triatomine bugs, ticks, blackflies and sandflies.</div>
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	When a patient suffering from dengue fever is bitten by a vector mosquito, the mosquito is infected and it may spread the disease by biting other people.</div>
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	According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, Zika virus, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, Japanese encephalitis and leishmaniasis.</div>
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	Tropical and subtropical countries witness the highest number of vector-borne diseases. Dengue and chikungunya infections are caused by the &#39;aedes aegypti&#39; mosquito, which breeds in clean water. The female anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, breeds in both muddy and clean water.</div>
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	Vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue are spread through mosquitoes and affect many people across India every year.</div>
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	Such diseases arise soon after the onset of monsoon season. Vector-borne diseases spread due to poor sanitation, contaminated water bodies, non-maintenance of overhead tanks and other polluted water containers, and inefficient solid waste management.</div>
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	<strong>Symptoms and diagnosis</strong></div>
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	A person who suffers from any vector-borne disease usually develops a high fever, accompanied by symptoms like nausea, headaches, pain at the back of the eyes, rashes as well as joint pain and muscle cramps.</div>
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	Since the symptoms are not specific, it is necessary to diagnose the disease.</div>
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	A serology testing is advised if the patient has suffered from the symptoms for more than a week. As there isn&#39;t a particular treatment for this vector-borne disease, immediate medical attention reduces the chance of death. In fact, some dengue patients need a blood transfusion after a low platelet count.</div>
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Learn What are vector-borne diseases, how it is caused, its symptoms, treatments, diagnosis and more here at Business Standard.

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