Both the city corporations’ multi-dimensional initiatives to destroy the breeding ground of mosquitoes have yielded good results, resulting in a drastic fall in dengue cases this year.
This year, no death has been reported on suspicion of dengue so far and the dengue infection cases are much lower compared to previous year, according to government data.
According to a report by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Ministry of Health, 327 people were infected with dengue this year, of them 199 in January, 24 in February, 27 in March, 25 April, 10 in May, 20 in June and 1 in this month (till July 8).
Dr Ayesha Akter, assistant director of the control room of DGHS, told Bangladesh Post, “Currently, there is no dengue patient in the government and private hospitals of the country. Although 327 cases were found this year, most of them were infected in January. Besides, no death has been reported on suspicion of dengue so far this year.”
Last year, more than 1 lakh people were infected and at least 164 people died of dengue fever across Bangladesh. Reviewing 263 reports of dengue-related deaths, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed 164 dengue deaths last year.
The deaths included two in April, six in June, 35 in July, 83 in August, 25 in September, 11 in October and 2 in November.
Taking the last year’s dengue experiences into consideration, authorities at Dhaka South and North City Corporations have strengthened the mosquito-eradicating programmes as houses and establishments turned into conducive spots for mosquito breeding.
DNCC has been conducting 2nd phase combing operation in its jurisdiction in order to prevent the spread of dengue and chikungunya, DNCC sources said.
Earlier, the DNCC conducted a combing operation (cleanliness programme) in the first phase from June 6-15, 2020 with Aedes larvae being found in some 1,601 establishments and fined them some Tk 24 lakh, the city officials said.
Then, DNCC launched a 6-day drive against mosquito in more than 200 hospitals.
Meanwhile, city staffers are spraying insecticide with fogger machines to kill mosquito larvae from 4:30pm to 6:30pm daily.
During the combing operation, details of each establishment including images, addresses, contact numbers, as well as other necessary information related to the anti-mosquito drives were being stored in an app.
With this data, the DNCC will create a database of Aedes mosquitoes’ breeding areas to monitor its entire jurisdiction.
On the other hand, officials at the DSCC said that the mosquito-control initiatives were underway in its all wards since June 7, 2020. Each ward has been divided into 10 areas to carry out the operations at all establishments.
DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that regular initiatives to eradicate mosquitoes have been redesigned from top to bottom and the new action plan has been adapted for its 75 wards.
The mayor went on to say, “An eight-member team is working at each ward from 9am to 1pm with another 10-member team spraying insecticide with fogger machines from 2:30pm to 6:30pm.”
“This year, I hope, we will be able to keep the people of Dhaka safe from dengue outbreak,” he concluded.
