Dengue patients alarmingly increasing in the valley

Along with Kathmandu Valley, it has been found that dengue fever patients have increased in different parts of the country. Dengue infection is increasing in Terai-Madhesh and hilly areas where there are many mosquitoes. Dengue fever patients are increasing especially in densely populated cities like Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara. Dr. Bhupendra Basnet, Acting Administrative Officer of Bir Hospital informed that there are many dengue patients in Kathmandu this time.

He said that many dengue patients including doctors have been admitted to the hospital. "Dengue patients are being admitted here daily", he said, "public awareness programs should be conducted to keep the house clean." Dengue infection is spread by the bite of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus species, which are active especially in the evening-morning hours.

In 2004, a dengue patient was found for the first time in Nepal. Since then, dengue infections have been seen. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Anup Bastola says that dengue has increased in the years 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2019. He says that dengue patients have increased since then. Even in the intervening years, dengue patients were seen sporadically.

After 2018, dengue, which is more common in Terai-Madhesh, has also appeared in hilly cities like Pokhara and Kathmandu. "Mosquitoes have increased in the valley and dengue patients have also increased in the valley", he said.

Director of Civil Servant Hospital, Dr Vidhannidhi Poudel informed that 19 patients have been treated in the hospital so far. According to him, eight patients are being treated even today. The hospital has instructed all bedridden patients to use hammocks to prevent dengue.

According to him, the risk of dengue infection is higher as there is more heat and rain from July to October. According to infectious disease expert Dr. Bastola, if 10,000 people are infected with dengue at the community level, 1,000 people will develop symptoms. Out of which 500 people are infected with viral fever and another 500 people show symptoms of dengue fever.

High fever, headache, eyeballs, back, body, knee joint pain, groin pain etc. are symptoms of dengue. Red spots also appear on the body during dengue fever.

Symptoms such as fatigue, bleeding from the gums, severe abdominal pain, frequent vomiting, difficulty breathing, and cramping appear in patients with severe dengue infection.

Patients with such symptoms should be admitted to the hospital immediately. According to Dr. Bimal Chalise, chief consultant physician of Shukraraj Tropical and Communicable Disease Hospital, 22 dengue patients are currently being treated at the hospital. He said that due to the current weather, water freezes and mosquitoes spread more in the water, dengue infection has been observed.

He informed that although there are four types of dengue disease, research is being done on which type of dengue has been observed in Nepal. According to the vector control inspector of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control Division, Uttamraj Payakurel, two thousand one hundred and eight people have been diagnosed with dengue since March. Since January, 233 dengue patients have been found in Kathmandu, 623 in Lalitpur and 38 in Bhaktapur.

He informed that only in Shrawan, 196 patients were found in Kathmandu, 35 in Bhaktapur and 523 in Lalitpur. A campaign to destroy mosquito larvae should be carried out to prevent the possible outbreak of dengue which has started spreading now. First of all, the water accumulated around our houses, schools, and markets should be removed.