Home ›› 19 Jul 2021 ›› Front
Rashad Ahamad
Bangladesh grappling to tackle the coronavirus situation is facing another grim reality of a possible dengue outbreak which would put a severe strain on the country’s already outstretched healthcare system.
The country has been recording an increase in both Covid-19 and dengue cases over the past two weeks.
On Sunday, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 225 coronavirus-related deaths and 11,578 new cases in a 24-hour period.
This year, Bangladesh recorded 1,207 dengue cases, of which 835 were reported in the last 15 days. Until now, two persons are suspected to have died from dengue.
Meanwhile, 3,248 covid-related deaths and 1,82,430 positive cases were recorded across the country in the last 18 days.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Virology Professor Munira Jahan expressed concerns that Bangladesh might witness a new spike in dengue and coronavirus infections after Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
She said just like Covid-19, dengue might also spread to village areas through infected patients travelling to their homes from the capital during the Eid.
“As the country’s healthcare sector already faces a challenge from Covid-19, it will be highly challenging for them to fight dengue at the same time,” Professor Munira told The Business Post.
She said mosquito control was the only way to contain dengue while health guidelines must be maintained to control Covid-19.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes a severe flu-like illness, sometimes reaching severity leading to death. The peak season for dengue is between March and August.
Virologists said that the real number of dengue infections are much higher than what has been reported as the health department does not collect information from all hospitals, while a large number of patients are treated at homes.
While addressing a virtual press briefing on Sunday, DGHS Director and Spokesperson Professor Nazmul Islam said a rise in dengue cases will put additional lives at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He asked the authorities concerned, including both city corporations in the capital, to take pragmatic steps to control the spread of dengue.
Talking to The Business Post, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said the city corporation continues to raise public awareness and has been taking punitive actions against errant house-owners for harbouring conditions enabling reproduction of dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes.
On the coronavirus pandemic, a DGHS press release on Sunday said the country’s average positivity rate was at 29.09 per cent after testing 39,806 samples at 638 laboratories in a span of 24 hours.
