62% of this year’s dengue infections and deaths were in September

About 62% of hospitalised patients and deaths due to dengue this year in the country have been recorded in September, according to the Health Emergency Operation Centre of the Directorate General of Health Services.

There were a total of 16,092 patients until Friday morning. Of them, 9,911 were infected in September, which is about 62% of all infections this year. During this time, 55 people died due to dengue, and 34 of them died in September.

In the last 24 hours till Friday, 240 new patients with dengue fever – 150 in Dhaka and 90 outside the capital – were hospitalised.

Experts say there is no effective government initiative to prevent dengue, and patients have been detected in more than 50 districts. The number of patients reported by the health department is much higher than the actual number of infected people.

Experts think the country's dengue situation may be worse than Covid-19 and there should be a national strategy to control dengue.

Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed, a public health expert, told The Business Standard (TBS) there is no effective nationwide initiative to control dengue. None of the recommendations or suggestions made by local and foreign experts in the past has been implemented. The dengue situation in the country is going from bad to worse and since it rained in September this year, dengue infections have gone up.

He added that the present surge in infections can continue up to November. Dengue is associated with unplanned urbanization and so it is necessary to formulate a national strategy and appoint entomologists in the whole country and at the same time set up laboratories for regular research. Larvicides and insecticides are also needed for mosquito control.

According to the Monsoon Aedes Survey 2022, Dhaka South's Gopibagh, Kamalapur, and Motijheel areas have the highest Breteau Index at 53.33, while Dhaka North's Gulshan, Banani and Kalyanpur areas experienced the highest Breteau Index at 36.6.

According to the survey, Aedes mosquitoes were present in 45.2% of multi-storied buildings and 24.8% of under-construction buildings, 20.3% of independent houses, 6.8% of slums or semi-pucca houses, and 2.8% of vacant plots in Dhaka North.

In Dhaka South areas, mosquitoes were found in 33.0% of multi-storied buildings, 27% of independent houses, 12.1% of slums, and 5.1% of vacant plots.

A total of 1,916 dengue patients are currently hospitalized in the country. Among them, 1,448 are admitted to hospitals in Dhaka, and 468 outside Dhaka.

The total number of discharged patients across the country is 14,120. Among them, 10,806 were in Dhaka, and 3,314 outside Dhaka.