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Feature Tropical Disease

What can India do about dengue fever?

BMJ 2013; 346 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f643 (Published 04 February 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f643

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Re: What can India do about dengue fever?

I want to draw attention to the fact that Dengue fever is transmitted by Aedes Aegypti, which grows in stagnant water in water containers like flower vases, uncovered barrels, buckets, and discarded tyres, but the most dangerous areas are wet shower floors and toilet tanks, as they allow the mosquitos to breed in the residence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_aegypti). Most of the plastic waste from households consists of dorsoventrally compressed plastic bags which are now lawfully banned too. These plastic bags are not filled with water, so the mosquitoes cannot breed in these.

Competing interests: No competing interests

15 February 2013
Neeru Gupta
Scientist E
KK Jani
Indian Council of Medical research
Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110029