Awareness campaign to be launched as dengue fever is back in Dhaka

Authorities have devised plans to launch dengue fever awareness campaign in Dhaka as the mosquito-borne infection has returned with the onset of monsoon.

The ‘breakbone fever’ caused by the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito had baffled doctors and was a cause of great concern when it first appeared in the early 2000s.

But it subsequently became a seasonal fever with doctors having proper guidelines, and people coming to know about the disease.

“There is nothing to panic. It’s very normal now, and everyone knows about this,” said Dr Md Tito Miah, an associate professor of medicine at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

But he cautioned inappropriate management can trigger fatal bleeding, advising people not to take medicines other than paracetamol without prescriptions during fever.

The government’s disease monitoring agency, IEDCR, has been following the trend of dengue fever.

Its director Prof Mahmudur Rahman said the trend was “normal” so far.

“Many factors can influence the rise of dengue fever, such as climate change and the breeding of the vector mosquito,” he told bdnews24.com, citing 2013 as a critical year when there were cases every month.

Usually June to September is the season of this fever, but it can be prolonged.

The first case this year was reported in June, and the government’s control room has recorded 89 cases so far.

“There may be some more patients. But our surveillance gives us a clear picture about the trend of the disease and it shows nothing to trigger panic,” Prof Rahman said.

Dhaka South City Corporation on Sunday held a meeting on how they would generate awareness about the disease.

Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Mahbubur Rahman told bdnews24.com that they had decided to campaign through folk songs and the media for awareness.

Health Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation Dr Emdadul Haque told bdnews24.com that they would meet on Monday.

“But we have already decided to monitor hospitals. We’ll collect dengue patients’ addresses from hospitals and strengthen our activities in the areas where they live,” he said.

The city corporations have routine programmes for sanitising the breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

General awareness is necessary as the dengue-causing aedes mosquito usually breeds in a small collection of clean water in and around houses, such as inside a flower vase.

The symptoms of dengue are sudden high fever, severe headache, pains behind the eyes, muscle and joints.

The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name ‘breakbone fever’.

“If the fever is accompanied or followed by cough and runny nose, it is unlikely to be dengue,” Dr Miah of DMCH said.