Aedes larvae found in Kushtia, Meherpur
127 people have been infected with dengue in Meherpur’s Gangni till the first week of September
Epistemologists found Aedes larvae in two districts, as the number of dengue patients has begun decreasing in the epicenter Dhaka. Terming the prevalence of Aedes mosquitoes in remote areas outside Dhaka as "unusual", the experts emphasized on taking the anti-mosquito drives to rural Bangladesh.
Sources at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) said on Wednesday that aedes larvae has been found in Kushtia and Meherpur districts during survey.
According to media reports, 127 people have been infected with dengue in Meherpur's Gangni till the first week of September, while 35 people were diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease in Kustia's Chhatarpara village after Eid-ul-Azha.
As dengue infection rate in Barisal started ringing the alarm bell, separate IEDCR teams visited and surveyed the three areas (Kushtia, Meherpur, and Barisal) in the second half of August, collecting samples.
The survey report was disclosed on Wednesday at an event, under the banner 'Knowledge Sharing on Dengue Surveillance in Bangladesh', at the IEDCR auditorium.
At Kushtia, the team surveyed 71 households and found significant presence of adult aedes albopictus.
There are two types of aedes mosquitoes, aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito) and aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito). The 'yellow fever mosquito' is the primary source of dengue, and mostly found in urban spaces.
Aedes albopictus or the Asian tiger mosquito lives in rural areas. In Meherpur, both aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus were found.
In Barisal, the IEDCR epistemologists surveyed 335 households. However, no aedes mosquito was found within the surveyed locations.
Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of IEDCR, said that the type of mosquito that have been found outside Dhaka were mostly aedes albopictas.
"Comparing to aedes egypti, this second type is five times less risky," she said, while adding: natural containers in rural areas need to be destroyed to combat albopictus.
"Proper use of insecticide can be effective in this regard," Sabrina Flora said. In way of explaining the absence of aedes mosquito in Barisal, the professor said that the anti-mosquito measures in Barisal could have played an effective role.
