Declare ‘public health emergency’ over dengue

The country is currently facing a "public health emergency" as dengue has already spread to 63 districts, said health experts at a seminar yesterday.

Addressing a seminar organised by Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) at Mugda Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, they described the situation as "concerning" because the cases of dengue and deaths have been rising every single day.

The health officials in a press conference yesterday termed the situation "alarming", but they claimed that it has not yet reached the status of a public health emergency.

Presenting a keynote at the BMA event, Dr Mushtuq Hussain, consultant at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said people are now being infected with all the four strains (Den 1, 2, 3, and 4) of the dengue virus.

"It has been a continuing public health emergency, which is a matter of national concern," said Dr Mushtuq Hussain, who is also a member of the executive committee of the BMA.

"Unplanned urbanisation, high population density, and unhygienic environment in rural and urban areas have made the dengue outbreak worse," he added.

While presenting another keynote, Dr Syed Atiqul Haque, rheumatologist and the chairman of the BMA Journal, said the physicians should follow the treatment protocol while treating the dengue patients.

Meanwhile, Md Anwar Hossain Hawlader, secretary of the health services division at the health ministry, said the government will consider announcing the dengue situation as a public health emergency if needed.

"I would not say it is beyond control or anything else. But we will analyse your suggestion," he said in response to a query about the public health emergency.

He stressed on early intervention to prevent any patient developing severe illness due to dengue.

Speaking at the press conference, Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director general of the health directorate, said they had  previously feared that the dengue cases would surpass previous records this year. For this, the city corporations were notified earlier, he said.

About the huge pressure of patients at Mugda Medical College Hospital, he said that the number of nurses  there will be increased soon.

He claimed that there has been no crisis in dengue management at hospitals yet.

"But we will fall into a crisis if the situation deteriorates further," he said.