Cox's Bazar at risk of Dengue epidemic
Dengue outbreak in Bangladesh is confined not only to Dhaka, but has been spreading in other districts, especially in Cox's Bazar, where it is showing signs of turning into an epidemic this year, experts said.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data shows 73 dengue patients admitted to various hospitals across the country in the last 24 hours until 8am on Tuesday, 26 of them in Cox's Bazar and 42 in Dhaka. This is the highest number of dengue patients admitted to hospitals on a single day this year, taking the total number of dengue patients hospitalized in Bangladesh this year to 1,477.
"The major reason for the surge of dengue patients in Cox's Bazar is the Rohingya camps. Some 4,000 people have already been affected there and the number is on the rise," entomologist Professor Kabirul Bashar told The Business Standard.
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He said the Rohingyas move around in close quarters and through them dengue is also spreading. He expressed concern about a dengue epidemic in Cox's Bazar.
Last year, the number of dengue patients admitted to hospitals across the country until 15 July was 623. This year, the number is 388 in the 12 days of July.
According to the DGHS, this year 185 dengue patients have been hospitalised outside Dhaka of whom 124 are from Chattogram division. In Cox's Bazar, 70 dengue patients have been admitted so far to different hospitals, 26 of them in the last 24 hours.
Kabirul Bashar warned it would be difficult to control the situation once the dengue epidemic hits a tourist city like Cox's Bazar and dengue will spread throughout the country from the district.
He suggested stepping up dengue control measures in other cities for the next couple of months and the city mayors to be more responsible in Aedes control.
Kabirul Bashar said many dengue patients have left Dhaka during the Eid vacations and so Dengue patients will be there until September this year all over the country. Dengue transmission will decline after September, he added.
In 2019 and 2021, dengue infection was high outside Dhaka.
The number of Dengue patients admitted to hospitals from 1 January until 31 December last year was 28,429, of whom 105 died.
