Local government, city corporations failed to control dengue spread: Experts
Moderating the event, ex-president of the Bangladesh Zoological Society entomologist Dr Manjur A Chowdhury said the city corporations’ efforts to control the dengue virus had yielded no result
Top entomologists in the country have said that the local government and city corporations are to blame for the current dengue crisis plaguing the country, owing to their failure to stem the spread of the disease-carrying aedes mosquitoes.
Speaking at a press conference organised under the banner of the Bangladesh Vector Management Group, experts also said the health ministry data on the virus was fragmented, failing to paint a true picture of the scenario.
Moderating the event, ex-president of the Bangladesh Zoological Society entomologist Dr Manjur A Chowdhury said the city corporations' efforts to control the dengue virus had yielded no result.
"A full-grown mosquito can transmit dengue for up to 3-4 weeks. There is no alternative to killing flying mosquitoes, but fogging won't even kill 20% of the mosquitoes. Adult mosquitoes should be killed using the ULV formula," he said, adding that 95% of adult mosquitoes would have to be killed.
He said the level the mosquito population had reached was difficult to control.
Manjur also pointed out misleading information as spreading confusion among people. "There is no scientific basis for saying aedes mosquitoes breed in drains," he said.
About the BTI, he said what the Dhaka north had bought as BTI was poison and it was being used without following any rules.
GM Saifur Rahman, an entomologist, said, "Since 2016, dengue cases have been found more or less throughout the year. That means we have not taken any effective measures to control mosquitoes."
He suggested implementing a control programme for the whole of Bangladesh.
"We do not have any mosquito control methods tested here. In case of mosquito killing, we suffer from indecision. Do we do fogging or larvicide or vaccination?," he said.
He suggested arming the population with insecticides to ensure they can fight against the mosquitoes themselves.
Nine more deaths were reported from dengue in 24 hours till Friday morning, raising the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 453 this year.
During the period, 1,565 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, the DGHS said.
Of the new patients, 804 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital – indicating a worsening situation across the country, according to the health directorate. So far, the DGHS has recorded 95,877 dengue cases and 87,851 recoveries this year. Four pregnant women have died of dengue so far this year.