Desk Report,
The number of dengue patients is increasing in Chittagong. More than fifty patients have been identified in June-July. To deal with the situation, the corporation has undertaken a three to five-month ‘crush’ program to kill the Aedes mosquito, the carrier of dengue fever. However, this program is being carried out based on an old survey on mosquito breeding in Chittagong city.
Although dengue is prevalent throughout the year, the number of patients increases from June to October-November. With the rain, the Aedes mosquito, the carrier of dengue, breeds in the stagnant water in various places. This time too, dengue patients have started increasing gradually since the beginning of the monsoon. Chikungunya is also being bitten by the same mosquito.
A total of 50 dengue patients have been found in the first five days of this month. There were 176 in June. A total of 495 dengue patients have been reported in Chittagong so far this year. Almost half of them have been infected since June. Two have died this year. A total of 43 patients were admitted to various hospitals in Chittagong last Saturday. And 22 were admitted on June 14.
Civil Surgeon Jahangir Alam told Prothom Alo that with the increase in rains, dengue patients have started increasing. Dengue patients are also being found in the city and surrounding upazilas. We have to be careful about this disease in the next few months. He said that there are various preparations to combat dengue, including creating awareness.
The City Corporation has already started activities to combat dengue. According to the crush program that started on June 28, the corporation has about 70 workers working to kill mosquitoes in three breeding areas every day. Apart from this, larvicite medicine is generally sprayed in different areas every day in the morning and fogging is done in the afternoon, said City Corporation’s Malaria and Mosquito Control Officer Md. Sharful Islam.
A survey was conducted in 2023-24 in collaboration with the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), City Corporation and the Civil Surgeon’s Office. In this, five areas were identified as hotspots as breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes in Chittagong. These are Kotwali, Baklia, Bayezid, Chawkbazar and Bandar areas. Based on that survey, mosquito control activities are currently underway. No new research has been done now.
