At least 75 percent of dengue patients have been infected with Dengue 2 serotype in Chattogram this year while 11 percent with Dengue 1 and 14 percent with Dengue 3 serotypes, according to a study.

However, Dengue 4 serotype, one of the four serotypes of Dengue, has not been found in any patient in the research.

Several areas of Chattogram have been identified as hotspots in the research.

The study was conducted recently under the supervision of Asperia Health Research and Development Foundation. Researchers from six institutions in Chattogram took part in it.

The research has been conducted over a total of 1,550 dengue patients in different hospitals in the city and upazila between July 10 and November 10.

Researchers from Chittagong University's Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Chittagong Medical College's Department of Medicine and Pediatric Nephrology, Chattogram General Hospital, Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID), icddr,b and Next Generation Sequencing, Research and Innovation Lab Chattogram have conducted the study.

The result of the study was revealed in a press conference at the Asperia Health Research and Development Foundation on Wednesday afternoon.

Prof Dr MA Sattar, head of Department of Medicine at Chattogram Medical College, was the principal investigator of the study while Prof Dr Adnan Mannan of Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at Chittagong University was the chief assistant principal investigator.

Dr Sattar said they conducted the study in Chattogram as the district has become the second largest dengue infected area in the country.

Dr Mannan said they went for genome sequencing in the labs at CU and at Asperia. They also sent the same samples to icddr,b lab for further testing.

"The test results in icddr,b lab were similar to ours," he said.

According to a study, fever was prevalent in 99 percent of patients in Chattogram.

Besides, children in urban areas are more affected by dengue in Chattogram.

Dengue serotype 2 is more prevalent among adults in both urban and rural areas, he said.

The study also said lack of awareness has been prevalent among patients. Around 20 percent of patients in Chattogram still do not know that mosquitoes are the main cause of dengue.

Also, 15 percent of people do not know the fact that accumulated water can lead to dengue breeding grounds. Besides, 40 percent of dengue patients did not use mosquito nets.