Drives and Spraying Fail to Curb Dengue: 118,502 Hospitalised and 368 Dead This Year

The government is running cleanliness drives, mosquito spraying, Aedes larva destruction and public awareness campaigns in the capital and across the country to control dengue. Hospitals have strengthened treatment preparedness and doctors have received necessary training. Yet despite all these efforts, dengue infections and deaths are not falling — and with the year drawing toward its end, the situation remains alarming.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, 118,502 people were hospitalised with dengue across the country up to October 22 this year, and 368 of them died. In September alone, 43,774 people were infected and 148 died. In October so far, 38,882 people have been infected and 123 have died. The continuing pressure has raised questions about the effectiveness of the government's initiatives and mosquito-control operations.

A three-month nationwide special cleanliness and awareness programme was launched in September to fight dengue, involving volunteers, students and sanitation workers alongside government agencies. In the two Dhaka city corporations, larviciding, fogging, cleanliness drives, awareness campaigns and destruction of mosquito breeding sites are under way.

Dhaka South City Corporation has divided its 75 wards into 10 zones to run coordinated cleanliness operations. A pre-monsoon survey had identified 63 of those wards as dengue-risk areas. Dhaka North City Corporation is likewise carrying out regular spraying, larva destruction and identification of risky areas.

Specialists say that alongside regular mosquito-control work, identifying and destroying the real breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito, regularly testing the effectiveness of the insecticides used, and ensuring effective coordination among the agencies involved are essential — without them, the desired success in dengue control will be hard to achieve. They also say it is necessary to regularly monitor how much mosquito density is actually falling, how well the chemicals are working, and where new breeding grounds are forming.

Professor Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist at Jahangirnagar University's zoology department, said the dengue situation could remain worrying through October and November, noting that infections and deaths were high in this period in recent years. A significant improvement may have to wait until December, he said.

Professor Bashar said the first task in dengue control is identifying the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito. Where the mosquitoes are breeding, which kinds of sites hold the most larvae, and how effective the insecticides are all need regular surveillance. Spraying insecticide indiscriminately without finding the breeding sites will bring no benefit, he warned.

He added that Aedes mosquitoes do not breed only in drains or beside roads. Water collected on rooftops and balconies, flower tubs, water tanks, buildings under construction, basements and parking areas can also breed mosquitoes. If these places are ignored, mosquito spread can continue even after roads and drains are cleaned.

Public health specialist Dr Mushtaque Hossain, a former chief scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said the Aedes mosquito cannot be fully eradicated by relying on fogging, seasonal inspections or fines for stored water in homes. Larvae must be destroyed regularly in buildings under construction, abandoned vehicles, open drums, broken containers and water collected on rooftops, he said.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, meanwhile, said the dengue virus has changed in character and that some patients' physical condition is deteriorating rapidly. Doctors have been alerted about plasma leakage, he added.

Rejecting claims that the government has failed on dengue, the health minister said doctors are following the prescribed treatment guidelines. Cleanliness drives are held every Saturday, insecticide is sprayed to kill adult mosquitoes, and chemicals are applied to destroy larvae, he said.

The minister added that population density and people's lack of awareness are causing water to collect in various places and create Aedes breeding grounds, with water stored in flower tubs and other containers on rooftops playing a role. The government is continuing awareness activities, he said, but it has never claimed that dengue has been completely eradicated.

All in all, even at the end of October there is no clear sign of the dengue pressure easing. Experts warn the risk may persist through November; how strongly breeding-site destruction and surveillance are carried out in this period will decide the picture at year's end.