DOT Desk: Dengue fever is the most important arthropod-borne viral illness with public health implications. In the 1950s, there were nine reporting countries; currently, the geographic dispersion encompasses more than 100 countries worldwide. Many of these people had not reported dengue fever in 20 years or more, and several had no known history of the disease, reports Dhaka Tribune.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 2.5 billion individuals are at risk of dengue infection. It was first identified in the 1950s and has since become a prominent cause of child death in a number of Asian and South American countries.
Each year, an estimated 400 million people are infected with dengue virus through mosquito bites. Around 100 million people become unwell. In Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa, outbreaks have occurred. Currently, dengue fever has been spreading widely in Dhaka city as well as all over the country. Moreover, according to recent statistics, only 63 facilities (20 public and 43 private) out of several hundred hospitals and clinics in Dhaka, the core of the outbreak, are currently designated to report dengue cases to the surveillance system. To deal with the influx of patients, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute established a distinct dengue cell, and the 800-bed Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Hospital was designated as a dengue-dedicated hospital.
To handle the increased number of infections and fatalities, the government has urged all medical colleges and public hospitals across the country to open specialized dengue wards and corners, and appreciation must be directed to the government for taking this initiative to overcome such hazardous situations. Controlling mosquito populations is the key method for reducing dengue illnesses. Because dengue transmission requires insects as vectors, mosquito populations can be reduced to restrict the spread of dengue.