Mosquito-proof coolers, developed to keep dengue and chikungunya at bay, have become popular with the public as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been flooded with queries about it of late.
Developed in 2007 by Mr T.G. Thomas, the Joint Director of National Centre for Disease Control, the cooler looks like any other conventional cooler with a little modification in its water tank.
“We are receiving a lot of queries from the public about the mosquito-proof coolers. Our corporators and MLAs are being flooded with queries. This shows that the public is concerned about dengue and chikungunya and are ready to fight it out this year,” MCD Health Committee Chairman, Dr V.K. Monga, said.
The epidemiology of dengue is changing here as the first case of dengue in the city was reported on March 3, after a doctor from All India Institute of Medical Sciences tested positive for the vector-borne disease.
The Delhi government, too, has decided to popularise mosquito-proof coolers (MPCs) in all government offices to check dengue and chikungunya cases.
“We will ask all government offices to go for MPC's as it can stop mosquito breeding. The coolers at houses are cleaned at regular intervals but the same is not with offices. The advantage of this cooler is that it does not need frequent cleaning as does a conventional cooler,” Mr A K Walia, Delhi Health Minister said.
Dr Monga said, “A study conducted by MCD on dengue patients in the city had found that most of the people who contracted dengue were either office goers or school-going children. The reason being coolers in offices are not cleaned as frequently as is done at home just helping in mosquito breeding.”
“The cooler till date did not have many takers because people felt it was expensive. People are ready to spend on medicines and on fines but are reluctant to pay a meagre Rs 500 to modify the existing coolers,” he said.
An MPC looks like any other conventional cooler with a little modification in its water tank. It has a metallic sheet that is put above the water tank inside the cooler which covers it completely to prevent mosquitoes from entering and breeding there.