Aedes larvae found at 3 spots in Pabna

Pabna district health department has found larvae of Aedes mosquito, carrier of the virus responsible for dengue fever, at three spots in the district headquarter.

Pabna Civil Surgeon Dr Mehedi Iqbal said at a briefing this morning that they have found larvae of Aedes mosquito at three spots including Pabna bus terminal, Pabna BRTC bus depot and an under-construction high-rise building.

The department conducted investigation at 30 suspected spots in district.

“A medical team including the entomologist of the Pabna Civil Surgeon’s Office has found the larvae of Aedes mosquitoes in stagnant water on abandoned wheels at Pabna bus terminal and Pabna BRTC bus depot and at an under-construction building at Abdul Hamid road in the district headquarter,” Dr Mehedi said.

“After collecting samples from the suspected areas, our experts confirmed the presence of Aedes larvae at the three spots,” the civil surgeon said, adding that this is alarming as the disease may spread in different areas of the district.

Pabna Civil Surgeon Dr Mehedi Iqbal addresses a briefing at his office on Thursday, August 8, 2019. Photo: Ahmed Humayun Kabir Topu

“We are continuing drives in different areas to identify possible Aedes breeding grounds,” said Md Helal Uddin, entomologist at the Pabna Civil Surgeon’s Office.

“We have asked the people of the concerned areas to destroy the sources of Aedes mosquitos through clean-up programmes,” Helal added.

Meanwhile, dengue outbreak took a serious turn in Pabna with a total of 151 people being infected with the disease in last 16 days, according to district health department.

Although the dengue patients were found in the district headquarter, but the disease has spread to the rural areas, health department officials said.

A total of 46 dengue infected patients are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Pabna. Of them, 37 patients are undergoing treatment in Pabna Medical College Hospital, 6 in Bera upazila health complex and 3 in Faridpur upazila health complex, according to the statistics of the district civil surgeon’s office.

“Initially, people who returned from Dhaka were diagnosed with the disease, but now we are getting many dengue patients from local areas,” the civil surgeon said.

“We have already informed all the upazila health officials to investigate the sources of the disease in the suspected areas,” he also said.

“The health department cannot control the disease outbreak alone; public awareness is a must to prevent the disease by destroying the sources through proper clean-up programmes,” the civil surgeon added.