As per news report the first case of Zika virus was detected in Bangladesh two years back. News reports in media quoting the government officials said on Wednesday that Zika was found in the blood sample taken in 2014 from a sexagenarian in Chittagong city; but he is now safe and sound.
Zika, an emerging Aedes-mosquito-borne virus spreading throughout the Americas recently and there is a growing fear that the virus could reach Bangladesh anytime as said by experts. Now its presence has been finally detected to prove that experts made timely warning about it. They have also suggested for taking preemptive and precautionary measures so that Zika could not spread explosively. Aedes aegypti, the carrier of the virus, is also responsible for spreading Dengue fever throughout the Indian sub-continent region, especially in Bangladesh and India.
BBC said that the virus has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains. So some countries have also advised women not to get pregnant without test for Zika virus. There is currently no vaccine available to fight the threat. In this context, Bangladesh should take special care for pregnant women to save their children from being born handicapped from mothers’ womb.
If this virus spreads, experts said, it can make thousands of victim to spread at an epidemic rate. It is just a matter of time. Detecting a Zika-infected person could be difficult at the entry points – for example, airports and border entry points – of the country since one needs to go through several medical tests before being identified positive. Now government needs to set-up scanning mechanisms at airports to detect the Zika-infected visitors arriving in Bangladesh.
Besides, Thailand and Taiwan – two most popular destinations for tourists – are also favourite to growing number of Bangladeshi travelers with increasing risk of the virus. In airports, these travellers on their return must be subjected to watchful check.
Health experts believe there is an urgent need to coordinate national and international efforts to investigate and understand the relationship of this virus with human beings better. They also call for issuing travel warnings, highlighting the fact that the most effective form of prevention is getting rid of stagnant water where mosquitoes easily breed. They also need effective protection against mosquito bites such as using bug repellant and sleeping under mosquito nets.
In our view Bangladesh health experts must immediately launch public awareness campaign to take the threat to the knowledge of the common people. There must be more preventive measures than curative one while our hospital system should create arrangement to treat patients if situation so arises.
