Health experts laid emphasis on launching massive awareness campaign to prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Chikungunya and Zika virus.
Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism. Over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year, they told a workshop titled “Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue” at the Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR) in the city.
Senior Scientific Officer (SSO) of IEDCR Dr ASM Alamgir, Principal Scientific Officer of IEDCR Dr M Salim and National Consultant (Training and Risk Communication) of World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Kazi Mohammad Hasan Ameen, among other, addressed the workshop.
Director of IEDCR Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora presented the keynote paper on dengue, chikungunya and Zika at the workshop.
Highlighting global scenario of dengue diseases, Dr Sabrina said more than 2.5 billion people live in areas that have risk of dengue infection and over 100 million cases of dengue infection are reported each year globally.
“Significant number of dengue cases is reported in Bangladesh every year. But morbidity and mortality of dengue-infected cases remain very low compared to other regions of the world,” he said.
In her keynote presentation, Dr Sabrina said a total of 5,551 dengue cases were reported in the country in 2000. Of the infected cases, 93 patients died.
Mortality rate has decreased significantly in Bangladesh as national clinical management guidelines were developed in 2000 and physicians were trained to manage cases at hospitals, she said adding surveillance system already developed to deal the dengue patients.
“A total 4,058 dengue cases have so far been reported in 2016. Of them, nine patients died,” she added.
Chikungunya is a viral disease which is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes, Dr Hasan said adding, “The most common symptoms of chikungunya virus infection are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.”
Chikungunya cases were first identified in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj in 2008, Dr Sabrina said a few chikunguya cases also were reported in 2013 and 2014.
Referring to the Zika infection as public health emergency declared by WHO, she said adding, “Zika virus infection can be transmitted by mosquitoes carrying the virus and, rarely, by sexual transmission. Infection during pregnancy may cause serious birth defects in the baby. Pregnant women should defer to travel to Zika-affected countries”.
