Aedes larvae found in 18% of houses in Dhaka: DGHS

The presence of Aedes mosquito larvae has been found in 18% of houses in Dhaka, when having the level at 5% in an area is considered "risky", according to the latest survey of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). 

The survey found a high concentration of Aedes larvae in 58 out of 98 wards examined in the two city corporations, Dr Nazmul Islam, director of Disease Control at the DGHS told The Business Standard on Monday.

The survey was conducted from 18 to 27 June, Dr Nazmul said. The dissemination programme of the survey will be held this week when the details of areas with high Aedes concentrations will be released.

There should be vector control for mosquitoes and the community should be involved in the process, Dr Nazmul Islam said.

"Not only should hospital beds be increased, but the authorities should move to contain mosquito breeding," he added.
Jahangirnagar University Zoology Professor Kabirul Bashar said the survey indicates that the situation will get worse. 

"Now the number of dengue fever patients will increase. This situation will continue till August. Not only Dhaka but the whole country will be affected," he said.

Emphasising hotspot management, the professor said. "Hotspots should be identified with the addresses of dengue patients from hospitals."   

"Then the flying mosquitoes should be killed with the crash programme in identified areas. The larvae should be identified and destroyed. Awareness should be increased by involving the people," he added.

Meanwhile, four more dengue patients died, and 436 more were hospitalised with the infection in the last 24 hours until Monday morning.

A total of 1,531 dengue patients, including 1,022 in Dhaka, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country, according to the DGHS.

So far, the DGHS has recorded 9,193 dengue cases and 7,606 recoveries.

With the new casualties, the official death toll from dengue rose to 56 this year, among whom 34 people died in June and 9 people died in the last 3 days of July, according to the DGHS.

Of the new patients, 174 were admitted to Dhaka hospitals, and 262 were admitted to the rest of the country.

The country recorded 281 dengue deaths in 2022, the highest on record after the 179 deaths recorded in 2019. Additionally, the DGHS recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.