DSCC to launch special five-day anti-dengue drive Sunday in five wards

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) will conduct a special anti-dengue drive in its wards from 16 October to 20 October, UNB reports.

The five-day drive will be carried out to destroy the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquitoes, the carrier of the dengue virus, and control the dengue outbreak, Md Abu Naser, DSCC public relations officer, said.

These special drives will be conducted on 16 October in Ward 6, on 17 October in Ward 2, on 18 October in Ward 3, on 19 October in Ward 56 and on 20 October in Ward 15, he added.

Eighty-nine people died of dengue and 24,326 were affected by the virus till 15 October of this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of the Aedes mosquito, the vect pare appearing to be inadequate.

Public health expert Dr Mohammad Abdus Sabur Khan said although dengue intensity usually decreases in September, this time the situation has reversed. “It’s October now, but dengue is showing no sign of retreating. It seems like dengue will prevail till mid-November this time.”