Dengue used to kill five in every thousand patients in earlier years but this year the figure is three, health and family welfare state minister Dr M A Muhit has said. He credited special training for doctors, evidence-based treatment, and preparation and coordinated action begun four months ago for cutting the death rate by nearly 40 percent.
He was speaking to journalists after a mental health seminar at the Bangla Academy on Tuesday, 13 October, Ittefaq reported.
The state minister said a specific action plan was adopted four months in advance this year, and a forecast about two months ago warned that cases could rise from late September through October and possibly into November. Cases and severity are lower than in the disastrous 2023 season, he said, but there is no room for complacency, because every death is painful.
Dhaka and Khulna divisions are under the most pressure this year, he said, with city corporation administrators, their teams and health officials working day and night to kill mosquitoes and larvae.
But dengue cannot be controlled by law enforcement or police alone, the state minister said. Because of security arrangements at Dhaka's high-rise buildings, cleaners often cannot get in without a mobile court or a magistrate, yet Aedes mosquitoes can breed in water collecting behind parking areas or in discarded electronics cartons.
He urged people to keep their homes, rooftops, balcony pots and ground floors clean, saying personal cleanliness and awareness would do much to protect families from dengue.
Photo: CDC / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Ittefaq
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