11 more die of dengue as WHO warns of ‘pandemic threat’

Staff Reporter  :
Bangladesh’s dengue situation has taken a serious turn and it is going out of control day by day.
Meanwhile, 11 more deaths were recorded from dengue in 24 hours till Saturday morning, raising the fatalities to 167 in the country so far in this year.

However, considering the scenario, public health experts have suggested the government to declare a public health emergency realizing the magnitude of dengue in the country.
There have been a total of 2,242 newly affected dengue cases across the country including Dhaka City Corporations in the last 24 hours, according to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
So far, the DGHS has recorded 30,685 dengue cases, 23,685 recoveries since January 1 till the date this year. According to DGHS, a total of 6,656 dengue patients are admitted across the country including 3,839 patients in Dhaka city.

The country logged 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019.
Also, it recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries in the past year.

Most of the dumping places under Dhaka Metropolitan Police stations have become the breeding centres of Aedes mosquito as many vehicles are piled at their premises for circumstantial evidence.
Earlier, former Chief Scientific Officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Mohammad Mushtuq Husain said that all four dengue serotypes are dominating this year and the country is now going through a public health emergency.

Dengue symptoms usually start within a few days of being bitten by Aedes mosquito but can take up to two weeks to develop. Symptoms can be mild or severe and can include fever with nausea, vomiting, rash, headache, eye pain, joint and muscle pain. In severe cases, dengue can cause shock, internal bleeding, and even death.
Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Adviser of World Health Organisation (WHO), told The New Nation that dengue spreads from mosquitoes to people. It is more common in tropical and subtropical climates where stagnant water is present during monsoon and after.

It starts with fever and in most cases is cured with antipyretics. In severe cases there may be high fever with bleeding from micro blood vessels.
“In severe cases patients need hospitalization, but most patients can be managed at home. If you can save yourself from mosquito bite it can be easily prevented and avoided. If infected early management could save lives,” he said.

As mosquito spreads dengue infection by their bites, the breeding sites must be destroyed to stop breeding and growing of mosquitoes of the Anophelesy variety.
He suggested that the best is to use mosquito net or mosquito repellent in exposed places, he added.
However, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday said that dengue situation is still under their control and there is no need to declare it as a health emergency.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that cases of dengue fever could reach close to record highs this year, partly due to global warming benefiting mosquitoes that spread it.

Dengue rates are rising globally, with reported cases since 2000 up eight-fold to 4.2 million in 2022, WHO said.
The disease was found in Sudan’s capital Khartoum for the first time on record, according to a health ministry report in March, while Europe has reported a surge in cases and Peru declared a state of emergency in most regions.

In January, WHO warned that dengue is the world’s fastest-spreading tropical disease and represents a “pandemic threat”.
About half of the world’s population is now at risk, Dr. Raman Velayudhan, a specialist at the WHO’s control of neglected tropical diseases department, told journalists in Geneva on Friday.
Reported cases to WHO hit an all-time high in 2019 with 5.2 million cases in 129 countries, said Velayudhan via a video link. This year the world is on track for “4 million plus” cases, depending mostly on the Asian monsoon season.

About half of the world’s population is now at risk of dengue with an estimated 100-400 million infections occurring each year, WHO said.
According to WHO, the largest number of dengue cases ever reported globally was in 2019. All regions were affected, and dengue transmission was recorded in Afghanistan for the first time. The American Region reported 3.1 million cases, with more than 25 000 classified as severe. A high number of cases were reported in Bangladesh (101,000), Malaysia (131,000) Philippines (420,000), Vietnam (320,000) in Asia.