Dengue menace: Health department wakes up at last

The health department of the government has finally woken up to the devastation of dengue fever with the mosquito-borne disease affecting a record number of people and creating panic across Bangladesh.

The Communicable Disease Control (CDC) programme of the health department in a statement on Wednesday night said they held a meeting chaired by the director general for health services and discussed the overall situation.

They will unveil the pocket guideline on dengue management on Thursday at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and distribute them among the doctors.

Every week a dengue health bulletin will be published.

The health directorate directed the hospitals only on Wednesday about the opening of isolated unit for dengue patients, fixing a focal person for dengue and open a registry book for dengue.

They also asked all to report to the health directorate’s health emergency operations centre and control room every day.

All doctors across Bangladesh have been asked to follow the national guideline to manage dengue patients.

A director at a government hospital told bdnews24.com that they did everything on their own.

“We did not get any directives from the health directorate or the ministry until Wednesday. But we have opened a separate unit for managing dengue patients,” the director said.

This year it took a devastating turn with the health department recording 784 cases in the last 24 hours. So far, eight patients have died.

This July also witnessed the highest number for a month in the history of this mosquito-borne viral disease in Bangladesh.

Hospitals are grappling with patients as this year dengue has changed its pattern of infection, compelling doctors to treat patients by hospitalisation.

Prof ABM Abdullah, a dengue expert, asked the two city mayors of Dhaka to take mosquito-killing crash programme concertedly.

He also asked people not to neglect fever as dengue had showed “atypical” feature this year.