Last month as many people died of the dreaded disease at different hospitals.

Two died at Dhaka Shishu Hospital on November 12 and 13, two others died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on November 14 and 16, one each died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital on November 9, Suhrawardy Hospital on November 22, and Bangladesh Medical College on November 2.

Out of 337 dengue patients, 256 have been released from various hospitals while 81 are under treatment.

Sixteen more dengue-infected patients have been admitted to the DMCH, Suhrawardy Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and Chittagong Medical College Hospital until midday of November 24. Ten people fell sick to dengue fever on November 23.

On November 19, ten dengue patients were admitted to Suhrawardy Hospital, four to the DMCH, five to Holy Family Hospital, and two to the CMCH.

Five patients were admitted to the CMCH, Suhrawardy Hospital, and the city's Metropolitan Hospital on November 22.

Over a period of 15 to 20 days in November, a total of 70 dengue patients were treated at Holy Family Hospital, 19 remaining hospitalised until November 22.

Director of the hospital Dr. Ahmed Shafiqul Haider advised people to remove any stagnant or potted water around the homestead.

"Clean water stagnant for four to five days is the ideal breeding-ground for Aedes mosquito," Dr Haider said, "It's a very lazy kind of mosquito which hovers around the nook and corner of the house."

Entomologists say that stagnant water at innumerable construction sites might have contributed to the recent outbreak of dengue fever. They also view that the DCC drives against dengue may have gone awry due to late advent of the rainy season. They suggested removal of stagnant water from the construction sites and spraying of larvaecides after proper identification of the breeding grounds.

As prevention was all that mattered in dengue management, paramedic health assistants have been trained to raise awareness of the disease among the people at the field level, said the disease control Director-in Charge Dr Mahbub Ara Ummay Zohra of Health Services Directorate.

"The overall dengue situation so far is under control," she claimed.

The directorate undertakes various public awareness programmes in the mass media to make the people aware of the cause of dengue, said Assistant Director Dr Mostafa Kamal of health directorate.

"Seven areas in the city -- Mohakhali bus stand, Nakhalpara, Saidabad bus stand, Kamlapur railway station, Mirpur Paikpara, Uttara sector-6, and Gabtali bus stand have been identified as highly dengue prone in a survey conducted by the directorate during August 28 to September 9 this year," Dr Kamal said.

A 100-bed ward, which has been set up at the Suhrawardy Hospital with the co-operation of the health directorate, has been earmarked for dengue patients.

The DCC has been carrying on with its public awareness programmes and cleanliness drives to eliminate the potential sources of Aedes proliferation in the city.

A DCC source said that 136 people died of dengue in 2000, some 39 in 2001, and at least 26 last year. The weather pattern might be a reason for the dengue outbreak this year, he said.

"The DCC's regular Aedes mosquito survey programme in its 10 zones by teams of entomologists and epidemiologists remain suspended for reasons unknown," the source added.

"The Dhaka City Corporation launches truck-mounted eight new special fogger machines today to reach more areas at a time, strengthening the mosquito eradication drive," said the DCC Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka.

However, routine dengue larvaecide and fogger spray drives would continue with four fogger machines in each ward, he said.

"We undertake mosquito eradication drive in the dengue-affected areas as soon as it is reported," he added.

Meanwhile the Mayor called upon the people, organisations, and educational institutions to take part in the DCC's anti-mosquito drive to make it a success.

There are hundreds of ponds and marshy lands in the capital, which are ideal grounds for breeding of mosquitoes, Khoka said.