CNN- Since April, Bangladesh is fighting its worst dengue outbreak on record, with more than 600 people killed and 135,000 cases were reported. Recently the World Health Organization said, as one of its experts blamed the climate crisis and EI Nino weather pattern for driving the surge.
The country’s health care system is straining under the influx of sick people, and to care for patients, the local media have reported that hospitals are facing a shortage of beds and staff.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general mentioned that, 650 people who have died since the outbreak began in April, 300 were reported in August.
Since dengue fever is spreading fast in Bangladesh, with infections typically peaking during the monsoon season, this year the surge in cases started much earlier- toward the end of April
Tedros said WHO is helping the Bangladeshi government and authorities to strengthen surveillance, vector control, lab capacity, clinical management, community engagement and risk communication during the outbreak.
He also said that, doctors have been trained and deployed experts on the ground and supplies have been provided to test for dengue and support care for patients.
A viral infection, dengue causes flu-like symptoms, including piercing headaches, body rashes, fever and muscle and joint pains. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito and there is no specific treatment for the disease.
According to WHO, dengue is endemic and every year more than 100 countries are affected where 100 to 400 million people become infected.
64 districts across Bangladesh have been affected by the outbreak but the Dhaka- home to more than 20 million people- has been the worst-hit city.
Though presently cases are starting to decline in the capital Dhaka but are increasing in other parts of the country.
Kabirul Bashar Professor at Jahangirnagar University’s Zoology department said that, in Dhaka since there is a water supply problem, people keep water in buckets and in their bathrooms or elsewhere in their home. Mosquitoes can live there all year round.
Our waste management system is not well planned, garbage piles up on the street, where you see a lot of plastic containers filled with water in them. We also have multi-story buildings with car parks in the basement which is ideal for mosquitoes to breath, since people wash their vehicles over there.
To cope with the onslaught of infections, Bangladesh has repurposed six Covid-19 hospitals to care for dengue patients and to detect and manage cases and requested help from the WHO.
