Dengue continues to wreak havoc even in December
Dengue continues to wreak havoc in Bangladesh even during the winter, with 80 deaths and 7,987 cases reported in the first 20 days of December, meaning the disease has turned out to be a year-round epidemic in the country.
In the last 11 months till November, a total of 1,622 people died from dengue, the highest on record in the country's history, with the deaths of 396 patients in September alone.
Earlier, the country witnessed 27 dengue deaths and 5,024 hospitalisations in December 2022, and 7 deaths and 1,207 hospitalisations in the same month of 2021. In December 2020, no dengue deaths were reported.
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The presence of Aedes mosquitoes still remains high even after the monsoon period, according to a 10-day survey by the Directorate General of Health Services, for which the data was collected until 19 December.
Talking to The Business Standard, Dr Kabirul Bashar, a medical entomologist and professor of the zoology department at Jahangirnagar University, attributed the year-round breeding of Aedes mosquitoes to the impacts of climate change and water accumulation – especially in houses, parking lots and under-construction buildings.
"In this year's Aedes survey, we found the presence of larvae higher than ever before," he said.
Prof Bashar added that due to the winter weather, dengue cases will decrease after a few days, but it will continue to infect people in all seasons.
The entomologist further said that home-to-home surveillance and vector control programmes should be continued throughout the year to combat dengue.
Public Health Expert Dr Mushtuq Hossain told TBS the health ministry, the local government ministry and the city corporations have to work together to establish a dengue-prevention centre, initiating measures for vector control, treatment and surveillance.
The heath directorate has already prepared a draft of the National Strategy Plan to deal with the dengue menace. Patients will be managed as per the strategy for the next seven years until 2030.
However, sources said that medical services have been given priority in the strategy but vector management has been neglected.
