While coronavirus infection continues to dominate the global media headlines, Dengue virus infection is gradually on the rise in the country with over 59 percent of the infection taking place in June alone.
According to reports, till now, more than 500 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue, - the Aedes mosquito-borne disease, since January and of them, more than 380 have recovered.
Between Friday till Monday, more than 60 dengue patients have been admitted into various hospitals. Reports claim that 59.5 percent of the dengue cases recorded this year has been in June.
Dhaka North City Corporation Chief Health Officer, Zobaidur Rahman told Bangladesh Post that many initiatives have been carried out and are still ongoing for the issue since April.
Agreeing to the fact that the Aedes mosquito-borne disease is more active in the recent months, he said, “We have sent text messages to 1700 house owners that we thought were potential breeding grounds. Around 50,000 leaflets have been distributed recently to raise awareness.”
He further informed that in drives between June 1 and 12, DNCC collected 24 lakh 88 thousand taka in terms of fine for the existence of Aedes larvae on the premise. In attempts of raising awareness, the city corporation instructed teachers and imams of the areas to highlight the risk in their neighborhood and motivate the city-dwellers.
On May 22, a road show was held in the presence of the LGRD minister, DNCC mayor, TV artists and local prominent persons to raise awareness among the people. The road shows were done simultaneously in all the zones of the DNCC.
Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh called upon the ward councilors of the DSCC on Tuesday (July 6) to involve the building owners' association in mosquito control activities.
The meeting highlighted monitoring field mosquito-control activities in dengue prevention.
The mayor asked his counselors to check around city apartments and requested inhabitants to allow mosquito workers to enter their backyards and their homes for inspection.
He said, “Mosquitoes are spreading around the house due to the accumulation of clear water in different parts of the house, various materials, wheels, discarded plastic bottles and containers, and due to the accumulation of rain water.”
The mayor said that there is a lot of water in the middle of two houses and that needs to be cleaned. Water accumulates on many places on the roof, that needs to be cleared.
In 2020, authorities reported 1,193 dengue cases and three confirmed dengue-related deaths.
However, in 2019, the country experienced a massive dengue outbreak. 101,354 people were hospitalized. The disease killed 179 people that year, according to the data from the Health Emergency Operations Centre & Control Room of the DGHS.
According to experts, the responsibility for this is at equal shares. People need to take responsibility for their own safety and not only remain dependent on authorities.
In agreement to this, Professor Nazrul Islam, an eminent virologist, told Bangladesh Post that the concerned authorities need to play more active role in checking the mosquito breeding places and at the same time public have equal responsibilities.
“In the rainy season, every individual needs to make sure of the cleanliness of their residence. They need to be aware and not let water accumulate on places like flower pots, windows, air conditioners, refrigerators etc. Everyone should be aware,” he said.