LAHORE, Sept 2: The female mosquito blamed for spreading dengue is an aesthete and is fond of sweet and pleasant smells besides cosmetics applied by women to improve their appearance. “Most women catch dengue because they use cosmetics usually having rich concentration of lactic acid which attracts aedes aegypti. At least, women should avoid make-up in the breeding season of dengue mosquitoes,” said Environmental Control Court (ECC) Judge and known environmentalist Dr AR Saleemi at a seminar arranged at the GC University’s Bukhari Auditorium on Sunday.

“Carbon dioxide, heat and perspiration have been the other major elements that attract the dengue mosquitoes towards human beings,” Dr Saleemi told the seminar also participated in by a good number of girl students.

Quoting a recent survey, the environmentalist said that laundry tanks and water coolers were found to be the main breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes in Lahore, as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus only lay eggs in clean and stagnant water.

GCU Zoology Department Chairperson Prof Dr Nusrat Jahan recommended biological control of dengue, saying that fumigation was useless because mosquitoes had developed resistance against the chemicals used in fumigation and sprays.

“Biological control or bio-control is the use of natural enemies to manage mosquito populations with a minimum risk to humans, wildlife and the environment. The use of biological agents includes predatory insects and other invertebrates like copepods, parasitic nematodes, larvivorous fish and microbial entomopathogens, including Bacillus thuringiensis,” she said.

After the first outbreak of dengue in 2006, a research was started at the GCU using many biological control agents and results were evaluated on the base of lethal concentrations, percentage larval mortalities and pupae/adult emergence both in laboratory and field bioassays, she said and stressed the need to support the research in the area of medical entomology for developing population management strategies of dengue vectors in Pakistan.

Prof Jahan also highlighted the use of `lethal ovitraps’ in houses and other places to control mosquitoes’ population. “These ovitrap can be made through a black plastic container filled with water containing a thin paddle of wood. The ovitrap could be made lethal for mosquitoes by using chemical or biological insecticides,” she added.

GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Khaleequr Rahman said in his presidential remarks that the university would support the research being conducted by its zoology department on biological control of dengue fever.

PU: All teaching and non-teaching departments of the Punjab University remained open on Sunday in connection with Anti-Dengue Day.

Various departments organised seminars while posters and pamphlets were distributed among the university population to create awareness regarding dengue fever. Special PU teams remained busy in spraying insecticide at various places on both the campuses.

PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran visited University Health Centre, Dengue Control Cell, Hostel No 14, Girls Hostel numbers 2, 5 and adjacent hostels along with various heads of departments. During his conversation with students, Dr Kamran advised them to keep their environment clean to avoid spread of dengue mosquito and dengue fever.

He said that so far no case of dengue fever had been reported on both the campuses of the university.

Later, a Higher Education Department’s inspection team also visited University Health Centre, hostels and admin block and lauded the initiatives taken by the administration to control dengue fever in the university.

TEVTA: All appropriate measures have been taken for the eradication of dengue mosquitoes from the 365 institutes of Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) across the province.

This was stated by Tevta Chairperson Arif Saeed at a seminar arranged in connection with Anti-Dengue Day at the Government College of Technology, Railway Road, on Sunday.

He said waste material had been removed from Tevta sites where construction was in progress or carried out.

Tevta Medical Officer Dr Farrukh Gulzar said committees constituted last year have been activated to look after the measures taken to eradicate dengue.

LWMC: Students of University of Engineering and Technology and the employees of Lahore Waste Management Company held a `fleet march’ in connection with Anti-Dengue Day on Sunday.

Led by Managing Director Waseem Ajmal Chauhdry, the march on machinery of Al-Bayrak, OZPAK began from LWMC Shaheen Complex head office on Egerton Road and culminated in front of Jinnah Hall through The Mall. At the Jinnah Hall intersection, UET students and LWMC employees distributed stickers and leaflets among the motorists and passers-by carrying messages of awareness regarding dengue.