Dengue deaths in 2023 double the total toll in 23 years

From the beginning of 2023, the country witnessed a severe turn in the dengue outbreak, registering 3,21,179 hospitalisations and 1,705 deaths from January to December.

Analysing the data of the Directorate General of Health Services, it was found that all the records of the country's 24-year history of dengue were broken last year.

As per the directorate, 868 people died from dengue in Bangladesh in 23 years from 2000 to 2022.  Till 2022, the number of dengue infected people was 2,43,748. In 2023 alone, 1,705 dengue patients died.

The country's first dengue cases were detected in 2000 and 5,551 dengue patients were hospitalised that year. Ninety-three of them died.

After remaining inactive for a few years since then, Dengue has returned in an epidemic form in the country in the last five years.  

After 2000, dengue cases and deaths gradually decreased, but in 2019, the country witnessed a worsening dengue situation. In 2019, more than 1 lakh dengue patients were hospitalised and 179 people died.

In 2020, the number of dengue infections was low during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven dengue patients died in 2020, 105 died in 2021 and 281 died in 2022.

Experts say that the country's dengue situation will worsen day by day if traditional methods of Aedes mosquito control are not changed to vector management.

Due to climate change, the rainfall pattern of the country is also changing. Dengue prevention is not possible unless measures are taken to control mosquitoes throughout the year.

Previously, the dengue outbreak in the country was mostly centred in Dhaka city. It has now spread across the country. 

In 2023, the number of dengue patients outside Dhaka was more than double. However, 58% of the dengue deaths in the country were from the two city corporations of Dhaka. The role of the two city corporations in the capital in dengue control was also criticised by various quarters.

Dr Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury, former president of the Zoological Society of Bangladesh and chairman of the Centre for Governance Study, told The Business Standard, "Many say that dengue control is a technical issue, but the biggest problem here is the lack of good governance. Good governance is essential in Aedes mosquito control."

Entomologists have repeatedly been calling for mosquito control through vector management but the city corporation and local government have not applied it, he added.

According to a survey conducted by the Directorate General of Health Services in December 2023, the presence of larvae in buildings in Dhaka has increased almost three times compared to the post-monsoon period of 2022.

The health directorate says that dengue is now a year-round problem. To overcome it, all departments have to take regular programmes throughout the year. 

"To effectively combat dengue, it is essential to initiate the implementation of plans right from the start of the year. When the Aedes density increases, the measures are not very effective," said entomologist Prof Kabirul Bashar, who was involved in the survey of the health directorate.

The density of Aedes mosquitoes in Dhaka is also very high during winter, he said, adding that unless immediate action is taken to implement science-based integrated mosquito control management, the situation could deteriorate further by 2024.

Dhaka South Chief Health Officer Dr Fazle Shamsul Kabir told TBS that work is underway to control dengue. 

"We will work to control the Aedes mosquito from January. Culex mosquitoes are now being eradicated. We have a plan to work on year-round mosquito control," he said.