Dengue caused 58 deaths last year

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The number of dengue cases detected in the country increases twice a year based on the monsoon season, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, Director of the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU), says.

Dr. Samaraweera said that the number of reported patients increased in the middle of the year and at the year end.

“There were very few reported cases in September, but the numbers spiked in October, November and December. There were over 11,000 cases in December alone.”

Dr. Samaraweera added that health officials feared that a similar number of cases would be reported in January 2024. This is why a dengue eradication week was declared from 07 January.

“There were over 88,000 cases in 2023, but only 58 deaths were reported. This was the lowest death rate since 2001, i.e., how many have died out of 100 cases.”

He went on to say that at least half the dengue cases each year are reported from the western province.

 “Most cases are reported from Colombo, and Gampaha usually comes in second. However, the current monsoon affects the North and East more and in December, the second-highest dengue cases were reported from the Jaffna District. There were a lot of cases in the Kandy district as well.”

Dr. Samaraweera pointed out that a lot of cases are reported from the Kandy Municipal Council area.In December 2023, on average, there were about 1,000 dengue patients admitted to hospitals each day, he said.

“We have dealt with more patients in hospitals in the past. So we have seen these, and we have learnt. The health system is ready to absorb a large number of patients,” he assured.

Dr. Samaraweera said that they have actively taken steps to control dengue. In the coming months, it will also be dry. Therefore, there will be a rapid decrease in cases within the next two to four weeks.

Entomologist of the NDCU, Sakuntala Janaki, said that they have identified 71 MOH areas with a high risk of dengue. These are areas with a high number of dengue patients and a high density of dengue mosquitoes, she said, assing that containers that are discarded haphazardly account for about 20 percent of dengue breeding sites.

“With the North Eastern monsoon, Jaffna district receives a lot of rain. We did several mosquito eradication programmes in the North in December, too. We checked various premises and found that there were mosquito breeding sites on almost all public premises. This is the same in the Western province. We found mosquito breeding sites in about 25 percent of the houses in Jaffna. This is different in the Western province. We usually find dengue breeding sites in only between 10 and 15 percent of the houses in the Western province.”

Janaki said the dengue mosquito passes through four stages in its life, i.e., egg, larva, pupa and adult. The first three stages are in water, and fumigation targets the adult dengue-infected mosquito who lives out of water, she said.

 “This is why our key strategy is to destroy the dengue breeding sites,” she said.