Act now to prevent dengue outbreak

After a few months of relative relief, a large part of Dhaka South City Corporation is again at risk of suffering a dengue outbreak, a survey found. Out of the 2,599 buildings and construction sites they visited to conduct the survey, officials found Aedes larvae in 938, thus raising the concern.

Till July 24, the disease had already claimed seven lives having infected some 898 people in Dhaka. And, as we can recall from only a few months ago, when mosquito borne diseases were again rapidly on the rise, it is quite likely that many more people could become infected or even lose their lives if the threat of dengue is left ignored and not addressed pre-emptively.

Unfortunately, during every such outbreak, the government almost always react only after the disease has already gotten out of control despite calls from the media and others to do otherwise. By then many are already infected, and bringing the disease under control becomes even more difficult. Thus, we sincerely hope that the government will not make the same mistake again, this time around.

Given that there is still time to prevent an outbreak, the government should immediately start social awareness campaigns that could reduce the risk of households harbouring Aedes larvae, thereby possibly reducing the spread of dengue. Moreover, the government should also ensure that mosquito repellents are regularly sprayed in different neighbourhoods in order to ensure that an outbreak is prevented.