COVID-19 upended lives in Dhaka. Now comes dengue with rain

As Bangladesh grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the arrival of the rainy season has given way to Aedes mosquitoes and dengue fever.

Dhaka North City Corporation has discovered the presence of Aedes mosquitoes in many areas of the city during their inspection, officials said.

Experts have urged the city corporation to take strong measures to combat the dengue fever this year while calling on the citizens to stay alert.

A total of 311 dengue cases were registered across Bangladesh until Jun 13, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Dhaka is the epicentre of the outbreak with 243 cases. Three patients are currently receiving treatment in hospitals while 308 have been discharged.

Many dengue patients are receiving care at home as the hospitals are currently flooded with COVID-19 patients.

National Malaria Elimination and Aedes Transmitted Disease Control Programme under the DGHS conducted a pre-season survey in March, followed by an inspection of the DNCC areas from Jun 6-13.

The DNCC is yet to make any significant move regarding the matter.

Entomologists found Aedes mosquito larvae in 341 of 1,611 houses in neighbourhoods under DNCC jurisdiction.

The primary information was needed to find out the house index and Breteau index score, said Dr Afsana Alamgir Khan, deputy programme manager of National Malaria Elimination and Aedes Transmitted Disease Control Programme.

Once the index is calculated, the real picture of the presence of Aedes mosquitoes in DNCC neighbourhoods will emerge, Afsana said, adding the prevalence of Aedes mosquitoes in DNCC neighbourhoods was ‘alarming.’

“We found the larvae mostly inside houses. Mosquitoes are breeding in puddles and stagnant water found in holes or paper boxes on sun shades.”

The information gathered by the national malaria elimination programme indicates the high presence of Aedes mosquitoes in Dhaka, said Kabirul Bashar, a professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University.

“The rainfall has already started this season and has provided ample breeding ground for the mosquitoes. Usually, the density of mosquito population starts increasing in June and reaches its peak in July. Therefore, the number of dengue patients tends to rise in August.”

The city corporation must adopt effective measures to curb the mosquito menace while people should be made aware of the issue, he said.

“Citizens must check for the presence of stagnant water inside or around their houses which can serve as a mosquito breeding ground.”

The DNCC conducted a combing operation to kill mosquitoes in five of its areas from May 16-20 and found Aedes larvae in 187 of the 9,463 houses inspected.

In the second phase of the operation from Jun 6-13, the DNCC staff inspected 107,628 houses, establishments, under-construction structures and found Aedes larvae in 1,269 of them. Mosquito breeding grounds in 74,309 of those places were discovered.

Nine entomologists from DGHS accompanied the DNCC staff during their inspection, said Gen Mominur Rahman Mamun, chief health officer at DNCC.

The entomologists mostly visited houses suspected of containing the Aedes larvae. Therefore, the presence of larvae is higher in comparison to the number of houses inspected, he said.

Aedes larvae are mostly found in under-construction structures and vacant houses, said Mamun.

“Most construction works have been halted and many people have left their homes due to the COVID-19 crisis. A higher number of mosquitoes were found in those places.”

The authorities must not be complacent since the prevalence of mosquitoes is lower than last year, said the chief health officer.

“June, July and August are critical periods. We cannot sit back and relax as the mosquito menace can shoot up at any time. We are stringently carrying on with our mosquito killing programme.”

DNCC has undertaken different steps to combat the Aedes mosquito problem, said Mayor Atiqul Islam. He stressed the need for creating awareness among the citizens.