Check Dengue Outbreak

With the approaching of the month of August, the danger of dengue has also increased in Nepal. The monsoon has already started and will reach its peak by the mid-August. Rising temperatures and monsoon season have some connection to the outbreak of dengue in the country. Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes that lay their larvae in stagnant water and then spread their population. It proliferates in tropical and sub-tropical climates globally. In 2004, only one case of dengue was reported but the number of dengue infections has increased over the years. It has now become an endemic disease, posing a threat to public health. This obviously requires an integrated approach to implement preventive and curative measures against dengue’s spread and impact. 

According to WHO, the primary vectors that transmit the dengue (DENV) are Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and, to a lesser extent, Aedes albopictus, and it has four serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4). If a person is infected by one serotype, s/he receives long-term immunity to the homologous serotype but not to the other serotypes but sequential infections cause severe dengue. Generally DENV infections cause mild illness and over 80 per cent of cases are asymptomatic. The dengue-infected persons also suffer an acute flu-like illness. Those with symptomatic cases develop abdominal pain or tenderness, persistent vomiting, clinical fluid accumulation, mucosal bleed, lethargy or restlessness, and liver enlargement, according to WHO. Although there is no specific treatment for dengue, it can be detected in time through the identification of warning signs, thereby lowering the fatality rates of severe dengue to below one per cent.  

It is a matter of concern that cases of dengue have been rising at an alarming rate across the country. The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) has recorded altogether 1,024 cases of dengue from 66 districts from January to June this year. Around 130 dengue cases were reported in January, 128 in February, 203 in March, 153 in April, 150 in May and 260 in June. The EDCD reveals that 62 per cent of dengue cases were found in 10 districts – Darchula (187 cases), Dhading (131), Sunsari (75), Kaski (66), Kathmandu (46), Bhaktapur (35), Kanchanpur (32), Sankhuwasabha (30), Myagdi (29) and Lamjung (25). This indicates that dengue has spread from Terai to the hilly districts. Last years, the dengue cases stood at 54,784, the highest number since it appeared in the years – 2004 (1), 2019 (17,992), 2020 (530) and 2021 (540). Altogether 88 people lost their lives to the disease last year.  

The latest data, provided by the EDCD, shows that dengue cases has gone up this year compared to last year, which set alarm bells ringing for the health authorities. The EDCD is bracing to enforce an action plan for the prevention and control of dengue, focusing on clean-up and awareness campaign. Dengue mosquitoes hatch eggs in water-filled pits, containers inside the houses and discarded waste, among other places. It has conducted sensitisation meetings with the Auto-mechanic Proprietors’ Association and Nepal Recollection and Recyclers’ Association to clean surroundings to control larva. In addition to awareness drive, it is necessary to strengthen public health systems to cope with the dengue outbreak. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of UN, states that the global warming has driven the expansion of vector-borne diseases that infect humans at high elevations in Nepal. So Nepal should also seek climate fund to deal with the potential health crisis.