Bangladesh
Dengue 12% of Dhaka houses at high risk of dengue
Dhaka, Jan 2: Bangladesh has seen the highest number of cases and deaths due to dengue in 2023 which broke all previous records. Dengue infection usually decreases in winter, but this time, even at the end of December, dengue is still affecting hundreds of people every day across the country.
The post-monsoon Aedes mosquito larvae or larvae survey data in two cities of Dhaka revealed that 12.3 percent of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and 11.3 percent of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) houses are at high risk of dengue.
The disease control wing of the Department of Health conducted a post-monsoon larval survey in 99 wards of two cities of Dhaka from December 8 to December 18, 2023. Where the organization collected samples from a total of 3,283 houses in 40 wards of North City and 59 wards of South. In the 2022 post-monsoon survey of the Disease Control Branch, the presence of Aedes mosquito larvae or larvae was found in 3.8 percent of the houses in the north and 4.18 percent of the houses in the south city area. Accordingly, it has almost tripled in 2023 compared to the post-monsoon period of 2022.
The density or presence of Aedes mosquito larvae is calculated using the 'gross index' or BI index. If Aedes mosquito larvae are found in 20 or more out of every 100 breeding sources of BI, it is called a risk presence. And if the house index is 10 out of every 100 reproductive sources then it is called risky presence.
According to the report of the DGHS, in the post-monsoon survey of the outgoing year, 13.4 and 14.6 BI were found in the northern city and the southern city. The highest BI was 26.6 percent in the north and 46.6 percent in the south.
Analysis of the data showed that 58 percent of dengue victims were between 16 and 40 years of age. A total of 41 percent died at that age. Most of them were working people.
