Dengue menace: How bad will it be this year?

The death toll is quite high in comparison to the number of dengue patients admitted to the hospitals, a public health expert says

The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which carry the pathogen that causes dengue, have been prevailing in Dhaka since the monsoon began this year. The number of dengue patients in the hospitals has been escalating as well. If not curbed now, dengue could cause significant suffering to the people, experts believe.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, 3,442 dengue patients were admitted to hospitals across the country as of Monday. As many as 43 people have died of dengue in the first six months of the current year.

In the last ten years, 2023 saw the most dengue patients admitted to the hospitals and deaths in the first six months of the year. That year, dengue ran rampant in July. Dengue cases had never been so high at that time of year before 2023.

IS DHAKA PREPARED?

The DGHS conducted a study from Apr 17 to Apr 26 under its National Malaria Elimination and Aedes-borne Disease Control Programme to find out the density of Aedes mosquitoes in Dhaka. The study was carried out in 3,152 households across 99 wards in both city corporations.

As many as 463 inspected homes were found to be infested with Aedes larvae and pupa, which was 14.69 percent of the total inspected houses, according to the findings DGHS shared on May 28.

It is considered risky when the house index or the percentage of houses containing larvae is more than 10.

DGHS officials are worried about the prevalence of mosquitoes and warned that the menace would escalate further during the monsoon.

The pre-monsoon survey showed the prevalence of mosquitoes which was quite worrying, and it will rise more during the monsoon, said Dr MM Akteruzzaman, manager of the National Malaria Elimination and Aedes-borne Disease Control Programme.

“It already started to rain. A heavy downpour will leave stagnant water in different places and increase the number of breeding locations. The DGHS usually conducts surveys and indicates the mosquito control bodies on which areas have more mosquitoes.”

“The dengue control unit of the local government - the City Corporation - divides up the areas and takes measures to ensure dengue control. We must control the mosquito menace. We should ensure that houses don’t have stagnant water in them,” Dr Akteruzzaman said.

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) started to run mobile courts to prevent dengue and destroy breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes last Sunday. During their raids, the courts found Aedes larvae in several households and structures.

At least 11 of 204 houses and structures inspected by the DSCC were infested with Aedes mosquitoes. The court fined six of them and warned the remaining house owners.

On Monday, DSCC executive magistrates conducted raids on 299 houses and structures under construction in Kathalbagan, Jigatala, South Banasree, Muradpur, North Manda and Demra’s Dogair. Aedes larvae were found in 19 houses – or 6.35 percent - at that time.

The executive magistrates slapped fines totalling Tk 70,000 on the owners of 10 houses and gave a verbal warning to the owners of the other nine houses as the existence of larvae was comparatively lower.

At least 12 of 311 houses inspected on Tuesday were found to have Aedes larvae in them. The magistrates imposed fines on the owners of nine houses.

DSCC Chief Health Officer Dr Fazle Shamsul Kabir said they were working to prevent dengue since the beginning of the year. As part of their work, the DSCC conducted cleaning drives in hospitals and police outposts.

“We’re running mobile courts to prevent dengue. We found Aedes larvae in some areas but it was not very high in number,” he said.

As many as 1,713 dengue cases were detected from January to June last year in the DSCC, Dr Shamsul Kabir said. The figure stood at 62 in the same period this year, he said.

“I would say we’re in a better position this year but even then we’ll remain alert.”

The Zoology Department of Jahangirnagar University has been working in collaboration with the DNCC to determine the density of mosquito populations.

They are working to figure out the prevalence of mosquitoes in Uttara, Mirpur-1, Mirpur-2, Gulshan and Mohammadpur in Dhaka following four processes. They use four different types of traps to ensnare full-grown and pregnant mosquitoes and also go to different houses to check for larvae.

Prof Kabirul Bashar at the Zoology Department at JU is leading the project.

He said the prevalence of Aedes mosquitoes increased a lot’ during the monsoon, while it fell for other mosquitoes.

“We got a smaller number of mosquitoes this week than last. Maybe the City Corporation was quite active in the areas where we’re working and the mosquitoes dropped in number. But the dengue has increased indeed.”

DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam feared that dengue would be more prevalent in the monsoon.

The DNCC took necessary measures to prevent dengue even before the monsoon arrived, he said. The DNCC workers were spraying pesticides regularly.

“We must be alert to ensure that no stagnant water stays in our house. If a pot is filled with water, turn it upside down. Destroy discarded pots as they are a breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes,” the mayor said.

MORE PATIENTS

A total of 3,496 dengue patients were admitted to hospitals across the country from Jan 1 to Jun 26. At least 643 patients were admitted from Jun 1 to Jun 26.

The number of patients was 166 in the first week of June, 174 in the second week, 122 in the third week and 181 from Jun 22 to 26.

Fewer patients were admitted during the week of Eid-ul-Azha on Jun 17, as there was a long holiday.

The DGHS shared the info of 43 deaths from dengue this year as of Jun 26.

In 2019, only 18 patients died from dengue from January to June. The figure was seven in 2020, 12 in 2021, 1 in 2022 and 43 in 2023.

The climate situation warns us that the mosquito menace will get worse this year, said public health expert Mushtuq Husain. He said the number of dengue patients would go up with the number of mosquitoes.

“The death toll is quite high in comparison to the number of dengue patients admitted to the hospitals. The authorities should take necessary measures to prevent deaths,” he said.

“It’ll take time to control the mosquitoes but the dengue tests should be made easily available at a fixed government rate in the primary health service centres to combat the deaths. The number of critical patients will drop when primary health services are ensured at the local levels.”

[Writing in English by Sabrina Karim Murshed]