THE return of dengue fever in the city has caused new public health alarm and experts favour more preventive steps than curative measures to face the menace. They hold the view that there must be an effective awareness campaign in the metropolis and also all over the country before the fever takes an endemic form. This is because dengue is a highly critical virus; which affects almost every organ of the affected person and the treatment and recovery require long time and demand huge expenditure to families often not affordable by poor families. Despite the complicated clinical manifestations of the disease, dengue management is also simple and inexpensive at the same time if the preventive steps were put in place to destoy mosquito eggs at their laying beds in places like flower pots filled with water at the corner of a house or in city drains which contain stagnant water. Dengue emerged in the city in 2000 causing panic to the city population. Meanwhile, doctors have devised its treatment and although the severity of the disease has been halted, its seasonal visit is still quite threatening and this is why more early warning and preventive measures needed to be at work.
Reports said both the City Corporations in the metropolis have taken steps to launch awareness campaign to prevent and eradicate the menace but what is advisable is that they need coordinated efforts to reach every door-steps to alert the people and make them familiarize with the preventive measures. What is also advisable is that the campaign to be run by health volunteers must be effective and informative to create public response mechanism at civic level and resources must be used without being swindled in the process by self-seekers under political shelter.
The city has so far recorded 89 cases of dengue patients beginning from June and there is a fear that more people may be affected by it. At curative level, a physician at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) cautioned against inappropriate treatment that can trigger fatal bleeding. They have advised people not to take medicines other than paracetamol without physicians prescription. Dengue now ranks as the most dreaded mosquito-borne viral disease in the world and if a large scale outbreak occurs, its human and economic cost appears to be staggering.
Instead of having a reactive response to an emergency situation, it may be suggested that we should have a proactive plan to avoid its outbreak. The Health Ministry must use its resources to creating the awareness at all level about the disease and the government hospitals must have specialized facilities to give early treatment to patients as and when they need it.
