Dengue outbreak in Dhaka city has taken a serious turn this year as the number of victims was five times higher in June compared with the same period last year.
According to a report of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 1,699 people were infected with dengue last month and 254 more as of July 03.
It was 295 in June and 946 in July last year.
The number of dengue patients climbed to 2,277 until July 03 from January this year.
It was 546 compared to the same period last year.
However, only two patients have died this year.
Last year, 26 out of the total 10,148 cases died between January and December.
In 2000, the number of deaths was the highest 93. The total laboratory-confirmed dengue cases were 5,571.
"This year, 2,277 have been suspected. Not all patients are dengue-infected," said Dr Alamgir Hossain, principal scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research.
Dengue is endemic throughout the year. If the situation is like that of chikungunya outbreak in 2017, the government can declare it epidemic, he added.
It was found that DGHS has been recording the number of dengue patients from January 2000.
But it was in 2013, when people started to get infected with this Aedes mosquito-borne disease from January.
Earlier, it was prevalent from April to December.
This year, 58 cases were reported in April against 29 during the same period last year and 193 cases in May against 52 in last year's May.
The highest 3,087 cases were recorded in September last year with a total of 10,148 dengue patients.
Experts attributed climate change impacts and intermittent rain to an increase in dengue cases.
A total of 10,148 people were infected with dengue last year and 26 of them died.
It was a record for the number of dengue cases in a year. The previous highest was 6,232 in 2002.
The DGHS's communicable diseases wing surveyed from March 03-12 this year by collecting water samples from 998 houses in 100 places under 97 wards of two city corporations in Dhaka.
It found a high level of Aedes larvae in water collected from abandoned tyres, plastic drums, buckets, open tanks in under-construction buildings and flower tubs.
Dr Alamgir said people could be infected at workplace as Aedes mosquito is everywhere in the metropolis.
He suggested that people be aware and keep the breeding places of Aedes inside their houses clean.
Meanwhile, health ministry has taken multiple steps, including training doctors and nurses in dengue patient management in an attempt to prevent needles deaths.
It has asked all city corporations and municipalities to destroy breeding grounds of Aedes mosquito.
Training has been provided to 1,500 doctors and nurses in the proper management of dengue patients.
Dhaka's twin city entities have been emphasising an awareness campaign more than a mosquito control drive.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor Atiqul Islam said mosquito control was a big challenge for them as mosquitoes have become resistant to the medicines they spray.
None of the three types of medicine groups has been changed over the past one decade.
"We've formed a standing committee on mosquito control. We've also been working with the ICDDR,B to change one or two medicine groups," he told the FE.
The DNCC has also made an animated TV commercial for creating an awareness of dengue and chikungunya.
