Awareness gap raises dengue concerns in Bangladesh: Study

Although dengue has become a serious health concern in recent years, a recent study from nature.com has revealed a worrying gap between awareness of the disease and the likelihood of people taking preventative measures, especially among younger people.

Dengue, a mosquito-borne virus of global concern, has been on the rise in countries like Bangladesh, calling for better understanding and addressing youth attitudes towards this disease.

Titled "Assessment of Perceived Dengue Risk and Prevention Practices Among Youth in Bangladesh", the study sheds light on crucial insights that could significantly impact public health strategies while providing valuable insights into the behaviour of youth regarding this mosquito-borne disease.

The study,  undertaken in various regions of the Dhaka district in Bangladesh, involved over 1,300 participants with a mean age of 22 years and was almost equally split between genders, education levels and rural, urban and semi urban communities. 

It revealed significant correlations between various factors and the perception of dengue risk, where factors such as educational level, gender, previous dengue experience, history of other vector-borne diseases, fathers' occupational status, and fathers' educational qualifications were found to influence how youth perceive the risk of dengue.

One notable finding was that individuals with lower educational backgrounds tended to perceive a higher risk of dengue than those with university-level education.

Furthermore, the study found that female participants generally perceived a higher level of dengue risk compared to males. This gender disparity in perception could be attributed to various factors, including differences in susceptibility to fear and risk perception.

The study also highlighted key factors influencing dengue prevention practices among youth, including employment status, previous dengue experience, sleep duration, and father's educational qualifications. Individuals who were unemployed or had previously contracted dengue tended to engage in more extensive prevention practices.

The report explained that this gap between perception and action is caused by multiple factors, from a lack of knowledge or misconceptions of the disease to environmental and systemic issues such as poor infrastructure creating breeding grounds for mosquitos and weak enforcement of control measures.

It also revealed a need for targeted public health interventions to educate the population and shrink the gap between the perceived risk of dengue, and taking preventative action among the youth of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh suffered a record-breaking dengue outbreak in 2023, with over 1,700 deaths and 321,000 hospitalisations. This was an alarming increase from 2022 which reported only 230 deaths and nearly 53,000 hospitalisations