Aedes mosquito density is above the normal index in all 75 wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), a joint survey with the Communicable Disease Control unit (CDC) of the Directorate General of Health Services has found. It rated 29 wards very high risk, 28 moderate and 18 ordinary risk, so 76 percent of wards are at high or moderate risk. The results were released at a news conference on Wednesday 4 November.
Over 12 days from 27 September to 8 October, 36 field workers from the two bodies visited 30 homes in each ward, 2,250 in all, recording data in a digital system called KoBoToolbox. Larvae and pupae were found in water standing in plastic buckets, drums, mugs, flower pots and building basements. Breeding is heaviest in ordinary homes and multi-storey buildings, with sites also found in semi-permanent houses, empty plots and buildings under construction.
The very high risk wards are 1, 2, 9, 11-16, 19-22, 24-27, 31, 53-56, 58-62, 65 and 71, where a special campaign against mosquitoes has started. Every Saturday, under the corporation's regular cleaning programme, the grounds and toilets of all primary schools will be cleaned.
DSCC administrator Md Abdus Salam said spraying alone cannot control dengue and that public awareness and cooperation are needed. The corporation urged people to clear standing water at least one day a week, remove unnecessary containers and cover those they need. World Health Organization advice is to empty and scrub containers once a week, because Aedes eggs can survive dry for months.
The health directorate's bulletin on Wednesday reported six more dengue deaths in 24 hours and 1,866 hospital admissions, 868 of them in Dhaka division. Deaths this year stand at 445, of which 174 were in October.
Photo: Econt / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Protidiner Sangbad
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