Dengue outbreak despite allocation for combating mosquito

The dengue outbreak has been intensified in the capital this year as 3,000 people have been infected and 11 of them died in the past three months.

The physicians have warned the number may rise further as the peak time of dengue outbreak will remain till October.

Records show the highest number of 14 people died in 2016.

In August, at least 2,799 were infected with dengue virus, meaning over 90 people per day.

According to records, 15,174 people suffered from dengue fever in the capital between 2014 and 2018. Of them, 40 people died.

“The number of dengue patients may increase in the coming months,” said Ayesha Akter, an official at Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room in Dhaka.

She blamed Dhaka’s waterlogging for the dengue outbreak.

“The disease seems to be more dangerous than the previous years. Infected people become weak and unconscious so quickly,” former DMCH physician Abid Hossain Molla told Prothom Alo.

Former chairman of infant department at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Molla apprehends changes in the nature of the disease.

The government records say eight of 11 dengue infected people died due to ‘hemorrhagic shock’ while two others died of ‘dengue shock syndrome’ and another died simply being affected by dengue fever. However, four of them were under 10.

A relative of a victim told Prothom Alo that his brother was admitted to a renowned hospital in Dhaka immediately after he had got fever.

He said his brother was diagnosed with the virus shortly after his admission. But he died on the third day into the admission.

“We don’t have enough information to comment on changes in the nature of the disease,” said professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, a director at Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

“Laboratory test is going on and we are trying to understand the matter.”

IEDCR’s death review committee is now collecting the history of 11 people, who died of the dengue, she added.

Preliminary investigation suggests most of the victims were infected with the virus for the second time.

According to Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS), as many as 2,965 people were affected between 1 January and 3 September. 

As many as 197 people were admitted to different government and private hospitals on Monday alone.

Physician Ayesha Akter said they keep records of just 22 hospitals.

“The actual number of the dengue patients is a bit higher.”

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is not on the control room list.

BSMMU’s medicine department chairman professor ABM Abdullah told Prothom Alo that two dengue patients have been undergoing treatment at the cabin block. Some of the patients took treatment at the outdoor.

He said at least 4-5 people are taking treatment at his private chamber every day.

The number could be much higher if the number of patients at the private clinics and chambers is counted, he added.

Budget increases, not services

The budget of the two city corporations in Dhaka for combating mosquitoes saw hefty rise in every year, but the city dwellers have no respite from the outbreak of the mosquito-transmitted diseases.

In the past five years, the allocation in the budget has been significantly raised for combating mosquito menace. 

In fiscal 2018-19, the Dhaka North City Corporation got Tk 200 million which is 122.22 per cent more than the previous fiscal year.

The Dhaka South City Corporation received 138.63 per cent more in the budget this year. A total of Tk 262.5 million was allocated in the fiscal year of 2017-18.

DSCC’s chief medical officer brigadier general Sheikh Salauddin said along with some crush programmes, 57 teams of the city corporation kill mosquito larva at 33,000 homes.

“But we have nothing to do if people do not take care of the matter after the drives.”

Urban expert professor Nazrul Islam thinks that increased budget is not a solution. “Solution lies in proper implementation of the budget.”

Both of the city corporations should intensify their battle against the mosquitoes as the number of people in Dhaka city is increasing every year, he added.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Toriqul Islam.