Dengue cases on the rise too
The number of dengue patients is on the rise amid the spike of Covid-19 transmission as more than 200 hundred dengue patients were admitted to different hospitals in the country in the last two days.
Meanwhile, three children have died of dengue at Dhaka Shishu Hospital in the last two days. Among them is a 14-month-old baby. Twenty dengue-affected children were admitted to the hospital on Sunday. Four of them were undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU).
Kingkor Ghosh, an epidemiologist of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, told Prothom Alo that the number of dengue patients has increased a lot in July. Most of the patients admitted to hospitals are residents of Dhaka. Children under the age of 5 are being more affected. It is important to cover the body of children and keep them under the mosquito nets.
According to the health emergency operation centre and control room of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), as many as 1,679 dengue patients have been identified across the country from 1 January to 25 July this year. Of them, some 460 dengue patients were admitted at different hospitals in the country yesterday and some 454 of them were admitted at different hospitals in Dhaka. Among the other six dengue patients three are receiving treatment in Gazipur, and one each in Kishoreganj, Netrakona and Khulna.
The public health experts fear that the number of dengue patients may escalate in August and September. If that happens, it will mount more pressure on the hospitals which are struggling to treat coronavirus patients.
The local government division held an emergency meeting on Sunday as the number of dengue patients is on the rise.
Local government minister Tajul Islam in the meeting said that special drives would be conducted in the areas of the capital which have been identified as the hotspot of Aedes mosquito.
Apart from that, drives would also be conducted at different government and private installations. If Aedes larvae are found in these places, the concerned authorities would be fined, he added.
Tajul further said the two city corporations have been instructed to get the information of the dengue patients from the hospitals and conduct special drives in the areas around the patients’ houses.
The number of dengue patients has been on the rise since the last week of June. From January to May this year, the total number of dengue patients was 100. The number increased to 272 in June. The number of dengue patients started increasing more in July.
As many as 1,307 people have been diagnosed with dengue in the first 25 days of July. In the last 24 hours (from 8.00am Saturday to 8.00am on Sunday) as many as 105 dengue patients have been identified. Dengue patients have been increasing in the capital.
During the regular briefing on Sunday, Md Nazmul Islam, director of the disease control unit of the DGHS, said people should not ignore dengue amid the coronavirus pandemic. They have to pay extra attention to dengue now. Dengue detection tests can be done free of cost under the government management. In case of fever, dengue test should be done apart from coronavirus detection test.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Farid Ahmad, the chief executive officer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), said the density of the dengue patients is high in two places (Khilgaon and Jatrabari-Sayedabad) of DSCC. These two areas are being given more importance in mosquito eradication.
Larvae are not usually found in places where the city corporation has already sprayed mosquito repellent. From now on, mosquito repellents would be used inside the buildings and on the roofs of the houses.
According to the two city corporations of Dhaka, they have adequate stocks of drugs for larviciding and adulticiding. Due to the increase in the number of dengue patients, combing operations and mobile courts are being conducted by the two cities to eradicate the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquitoes, the carrier of dengue fever. some 20 magistrates have been assigned to carry out special drives in the two cities to eradicate mosquitoes.
Lieutenant colonel Golam Mostafa Sarwar, deputy chief health officer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), told Prothom Alo that a 10-day drive would be conducted from 27 July.
Besides, daily activities to eradicate mosquitoes have been expedited. There are adequate stocks of mosquito repellent pesticides, he added.
A research in the month of June has revealed that the density of Aedes mosquitoes is high in Dhaka.
Kabirul Bashar, a professor of the zoology department of Jahangirnagar University and a mosquito expert, was affiliated with the research.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, more than a hundred dengue patients are being identified each day now. The number of dengue patients would further increase in the months of August and September.
The government and private organisations are closed at the moment due to the strict restrictions on-going countrywide to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
These have turned into a fertile breeding ground of the Aedes mosquito. The situation might worsen unless emergency steps are taken to control the mosquitoes in these areas.