A SHARP increase in the number of hospitalisation of dengue patients indicates a major dengue outbreak in the coming months. According to data from the Directorate General of Health Services, at least 785 dengue patients were hospitalised in the month of May, the most in a decade. The number of hospitalisations in January–April was also higher than the number in the same period in previous years. At least 1,927 dengue patients were admitted to health facilities from January to May 29, while the number was less than 400 in the same period in 2022. The DGHS also recorded at least 13 dengue deaths in January–May, when no one died of the mosquito-borne disease in the same period in 2022. A survey by the National Malaria Elimination and Aedes Transmitted Diseases Control Programme has found Aedes Aegypti, the primary dengue vector, in 20 districts outside Dhaka. On May 29, the health minister admitted that there might be a major outbreak this year in the capital and other parts of the country once the monsoon rains begin.

A DGHS survey conducted between January 26 and February 4 also found a high prevalence of the dengue vector in Dhaka. Entomologists say that if the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquito are not controlled now, the situation will get out of hand during the monsoon. Residents across the city have, meanwhile, expressed concern over an excessive rise in mosquitoes and alleged that the city authorities hardly spray any insecticide. What is also worrying is the sharp increase in dengue incidence at the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar. The number of dengue patients at the Rohingya camps, which is not included in the DGHS official statistics, is higher than the number in Dhaka so far this year. A total of 1,066 people are reported to have been infected with dengue at Rohingya camps between January 1 and May 23 this year. The authorities often conduct awareness programmes and spray larvicide and adulticide during the monsoon when it is too late and when the dengue menace already begins taking a heavy toll on lives. The reluctance of the authorities to take regular and effective measures and their failure to follow scientific methods such as spraying larvicide once a week and adulticide daily at open spaces, wetland, drains, roadside spaces, lakes and buildings to tackle the mosquito menace exacerbates the situation.

The authorities must, therefore, not delay in taking effective measures to contain the dengue menace in Dhaka and other parts of the country. The authorities must also pay special attention to Rohingya camps so that the situation there does not worsen. The authorities must keep the open spaces, buildings and establishments clean and must spray larvicide and adulticide regularly. People must also stay vigilant and rid their houses of water that collects.