Dengue again, amid COVID-19 outbreak

Dengue and aedes mosquitoes created a sense of fear among the people of the country last year. According to Prothom Alo and other media reports, around 300 people died of dengue in 2019, with official records putting the number at 179. This year coronavirus has overshadowed the dengue scare though experts fear the dengue outbreak will be worse than the previous year this time.

According to the health directorate’s Health Emergency Operations Centre and Control Room, 73 persons in the country were affected by dengue in the first three months of 2019. This year, from January till 26 March, so far 269 dengue patients were identified. All of them have recovered after treatment. On Friday, one dengue patient was admitted to a hospital in Dhaka.

The number of dengue patients in the first three months of this year was four times that of the corresponding period of last year. According to the health directorate, there were 33 dengue patients in the first three months of 2016. In the corresponding period of 2017, this was 186. In 2018 it was 52.

April to October is generally taken to be the dengue season. The drive against dengue normally is to begin in March, but amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the two Dhaka city corporations do not seem to be paying attention to this. The city corporation workers are sanitising various parts of the city, but going slow when it comes to mosquito eradication and cleanliness.

Experts say the density of aedes mosquitoes has been more in the first three months of this year compared to other years. This year the number of dengue patients may exceed that of last year, they apprehend.

Professor of biology at Jahangirnagar University, Kabirul Bashar, does research on mosquito breeding and control. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that the density of aedes mosquitoes and the number of patients in the first three months of the year indicates that the number of dengue patients will increase in July and August. He said that the public awareness in this regard should be mobilised and the aedes mosquito breeding grounds should be controlled. Last year the number of dengue patients had broken the records of previous years. The health directorate reported that 101,354 persons had been afflicted with dengue in 2019.

Minister for local government Tajul Islam has said that several preparatory meetings had been held with the city corporations before the onset of the dengue season. He told Prothom Alo that several initiatives had been taken, including procurement of mosquito-eradicating pesticides and carrying out a survey on the density of mosquitoes. The Dhaka South and Dhaka North city corporation had already begun programmes to eradicate mosquitoes and raise public awareness, he said.

A meeting was held on 13 February this year at the local government division in the secretariat regarding a work plan to control the spread of aedes mosquitoes. The two Dhaka city corporations submitted work plans for year-round mosquito eradication and cleanliness drives.

The work plans of the two city corporations indicate that the pre-dengue season work was to commence in March. However, most of these programmes haven’t been taken up. Discussions and consultations were to be held with the civil society representatives, teachers and imams of each ward. Every week the ward commissioners were to arrange consultation meetings at the local educational institutions. Meetings are to be held with representatives of the government and private hospitals to ascertain the number of dengue patients. No such meetings have taken place in March so far.

Chief health officer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mominur Rahman said that the outbreak of coronavirus had created a hitch in the dengue-related programmes. He said that the meetings with the primary healthcare givers could not be held as they were all busy dealing with coronavirus. The consultation meetings could not be held in the schools either.

Eleven teams of DNCC have been monitoring the mosquito eradication programme since 7 March to control Culex and Aedes mosquitoes. The inspection teams found that the mosquito eradication workers were not present at their duties properly, and not using the prescribed amount of the insecticide.

General secretary of Uttara Sector 9 Welfare Society, AM Shahjahan, told Prothom Alo that there were excessive mosquitoes in the locality. They had even met with DNCC mayor Atiqul Islam, but no mosquito eradication drive was visible.

DNCC panel mayor Jamal Mostafa , however, said that the drives against coronavirus and dengue were continuing simultaneously. He told Prothom Alo that this was a critical time and everyone was alarmed. Even so, the city corporation workers were active.

Meanwhile, several health department officials of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), told Prothom Alo, on condition of anonymity, that the presence of Aedes mosquito larvae was double that of the corresponding period last year. They fear an alarming outbreak in monsoon this year.

DNCC health department sources said that from January to 16 March this year, the corporation had destroyed Aedes mosquito larvae in 91,000 houses of the city. Most of the larvae were breeding in under-construction buildings.

Resident of Mugdapara under DSCC’s ward 6, Muniruzzaman, said that hospitals were not admitting anyone with fever in fear of coronavirus. People will die without treatment if dengue spreads alongside coronavirus, he said.

DSCC’s chief health officer Sharif Ahmed, however, told Prothom Alo that every day drives were being carried out to destroy aedes larvae. And public awareness was being mobilised.

Prothom Alo spoke to five ward councillors of the two Dhaka city corporations. On condition of anonymity, they said the mosquito eradication programme had become a bit lax due to coronavirus.

Professor Kabirul Bashar said that those who deal with mosquito eradication shouldn’t just turn towards coronavirus. The two city corporation and the health directorate should pay attention to this. Aedes breeding grounds must be destroyed from now. If not, like coronavirus, dengue too will get out of hand within a short period of time.

* This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir