Editorial
Dengue threat shaping
Take it as a warning signal
With the onset of monsoon, ten dengue cases have been confirmed by four city hospitals, five of them in the last week alone. The last two years having passed without any significant dengue attack, by past standards, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was lulled into lowering its guard -- so it seems. The laid-back attitude is reflected on two levels. First and foremost, the absence of surveillance and monitoring -- in a continual sense -- leaves the experts apprehensive that dengue affliction this year might go out of hand. Secondly, there is no sense of direction as we brace up to meet the challenges this time around.Two years ago a scientific study was made and a road map charted out with the full knowledge of the density of Aedes population and larvae or egg infestations to be able to combat the menace in all its forms. DCC had, in fact, carried out a larvaecide campaign that helped check the growth of Aedes population. But this year such knowledge-base is missing for the lack of an update. Resultantly the DCC gropes in the dark about the density and location of the Aedes, its larvae or eggs. Materially, the DCC is ill-equipped. Very few of the 'ten zones' have sufficient stocks or larvaecide to spray, to say nothing of having the sprayers in poor working conditions. Last one month has seen virtually no spraying of larvaecide. Clearly, the DCC has been caught unprepared and the only way to make amends on it is to build up the right inventory and clean up the environment on a double quick basis. This is the right time to revive the information dissemination campaign at the ward levels to make people aware of the dos and don'ts applicable to the dengue season. The preparedness at the hospitals should leave nothing to be desired.
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