News
Deadly little upward curl in dengue cases detected
The Health Ministry has raised concerns over a spike in the number of suspected dengue patients with the onset of monsoon rains.
The National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) said the curve in dengue case numbers, which had flattened during past months during the COVID-19 threat, is beginning to edge up again.
To date this year, the number of suspected dengue patients has decreased by 75 per cent, with most districts recording only double and single digits between April and August, according to the Epidemiology Unit.
Only 27,502 patients were recorded up to September 2020 compared with 50,147 cases for the same period last year.
Colombo, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Kalmunai had the highest number of patients, with the most in Colombo district – 3,916 cases.
Most infections showed up in January, in pre-COVID-19 times. In February, the figure stood at 767 and continuously declined until now.
Thirty deaths from dengue were recorded in the past nine months, compared to 157 last year. In 2018, there were 202 deaths and in 2017, a high of 302.
Last year, most cases came in October, November and December.
NDCU Director Dr. Anura Jayasekara said the Health Ministry is anxious not to see that trend repeated in the next three months.
He attributed the decline in cases to lack of people movement, the closure of schools and workplaces and the cleaning-up of homes during the pandemic shutdown.
The NDCU has resumed spraying the anti-dengue Wolbachia bacteria in the Western, Sabragamuwa, Southern, North-Western and Central provinces, where most infections occur. The Australian government-funded programme, which started in early January, had been stalled because of the pandemic.
“We resumed our programme in July and will complete it this month,” Dr. Jayasekara said.
Depending on its effectiveness the programme will be extended to other parts of the country, he said.
The 6,584 examination centres across the country for students sitting the Grade 5 scholarship and Advanced Level exams next month are being cleaned and fumigated by the NDCU and education ministry.