Cases for Dengue Fever Exploded in Dhaka this Year

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. In the past few years it has been spreading rapidly. This year the disease has seen more than a tripling of numbers of recorded cases in the city – alongside a lengthening of its season.
During monsoon rains from June, dengue season usually begins in Dhaka. An unavoidable fact of life, it proves deadly to a handful of unfortunate victims but by September it has mostly disappeared from the Bangladeshi capital.
In the middle of October almost 7,450 cases of dengue had been reported in Bangladesh and 17 deaths (pdf), making it the deadliest year since the first recorded epidemic in 2000.
Last fall, 68 dengue cases were recorded in Dhaka in the first four months, compared with 254 this year.
According to the researchers the true numbers are much higher because only patients with severe cases end up in hospitals, from where the government collects data. There are four strains of dengue and the most life-threatening is hemorrhagic dengue.
Emranul Haq, consortium manager for urban health at the NGO Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh says that spraying, or “fogging” as it is known, is unlikely to have much impact since it targets adult mosquitos. “Killing the larvae is far more important,” he says. Worryingly, he adds, the mosquitos have become resistant to the type of insecticide used. “It’s almost entirely useless.”
> Shiuly Rina

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