Almost 50 per cent of the Aedes mosquito larvae found in a recent survey by Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were around people's homes. Special drives have improved conditions in some high-risk wards, but the number of larvae close to houses has raised fresh concern.
The findings were presented on Thursday (12 November) at a scientific seminar at Nagar Bhaban, jointly organised by the DSCC and the Zoological Society of Bangladesh, titled "Current trends of dengue, prevention and innovative strategies for controlling mosquito-borne diseases". The chief guest was the DSCC administrator, freedom fighter Md Abdus Salam.
The administrator said that alongside regular mosquito control, a special crash programme had been run. Comparing the March and October surveys, several wards earlier marked as high-risk showed improvement. But finding so many larvae around homes is worrying, he said.
Abdus Salam said that in dengue control the city corporation carries 50 per cent of the responsibility and citizens the other 50 per cent; without joint effort and awareness, dengue cannot be controlled. He urged residents not to rely on campaigns alone but to check their own roofs, yards, buildings under construction and places where air-conditioner water collects.
Experts at the seminar called on people to clean their homes, yards and surroundings every Saturday. Standing water and discarded containers around homes give mosquitoes a place to breed, they said, so regular cleaning is essential.
Papers on recent dengue trends, the Aedes life cycle and science-based control methods were presented. The report is by Ittefaq Digital Report.
Photo: Econt / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Ittefaq
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