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Upsurge in dengue infections raising alarms for Nepal

The increasing trend of geographic spread of the dengue disease is harming the collective health of Nepalese.


Nepalnews
2022 Aug 25, 6:31, Kathmandu
Nepal is facing a dengue outbreak yet again this monsoon season. Many districts have reported cases in thousands and hospitalizations are significant in number. Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Rupandehi, Dhading, Gulmi, West Nawalparasi, Palpa, and Arghakhanchi are showing the most infections this year. However as the majority of people infected do not exhibit any symptoms, the reported cases show only a pixel of the whole picture.
Assessing the situation the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has recommended citizens to wear full sleeves clothes, use mosquito nets while sleeping and avoid the store of water in public places.

Dengue emerged in Nepal in the form of Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). The earliest case, according to MoHP, was detected in 2005. Dengue cases have continued to be detected since then and have resulted in several outbreaks throughout the years. The most affected districts remain to be Chitwan, Kanchanpur, Kailali, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kapilvastu, Parsa, Rupandehi, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Saptari and Jhapa, which indicating a spread throughout the country. The entomological surveillance conducted by the Epidemiology and disease control division of Nepal, during the year 2006-2010, has shown dengue spreads through local transmission in Nepal.

Recent study, published in the National Library of Medicine has shown a five time increase in dengue cases in Nepal, from 2016 to 2018. Alarmingly, the studies have shown a trend of dengue disease expanding towards the lowland areas of Nepal to higher elevations, in recent years.

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Severe dengue cases have caused serious illness and deaths in many Asian countries. Mosquitoes that cause dengue breed in clean water and infect people in daylight. According to the World Health Organisation, there is no specific treatment for dengue disease till date. However, early detection of severe dengue can significantly lower its fatality rate.

Majority of the cases of dengue are mild and asymptomatic, while its symptoms are ; severe headache, pain behind the eyes , muscle and joint pains , nausea, vomiting , swollen glands and rash.

Urban and semi - urban areas are susceptible to the outbreak of dengue diseases, which puts much of Nepal’s population at risk. Millions of people living in Nepal’s city slums, found in an abundant number in the countries’ largest cities, with no sufficient living space are vulnerable to transmissible diseases like dengue. Doctor Sushil Chandra Baral, the managing director of Herd International, a leading research agency in Nepal dedicated to generating evidence for uplifting Nepal’s health systems says, “ The urban health system of Kathmandu is weak, it needs to be better planned considering the needs of the urban population, especially the poor and marginalised who always struggle to secure their health.”

 A 2020 study, ‘ The alarming outbreaks of dengue in Nepal’ has confirmed that dengue is spreading more and more in Nepal since the last five years. The largest dengue outbreak in Nepal was reported in 2019. That year saw over 16,000 hospitalizations with dengue fever. So far, researchers have identified global warming, unplanned urbanisation, increased transportation, and lack of efficient mosquito control to be the causes of the increasing spread of dengue in Nepal.

Mosquito breeding in public places has been found highly dangerous. Therefore the throwing of bottles, plastic boxes, tyres, coconut shells, broken cisterns or any other object that is capable of storing water should be avoided in public places, to reduce the breeding of dengue causing mosquitoes.

With the recent dengue outbreak, the World Health Organisation in Nepal, has prepared an informational video in the Nepali and English language, as a strategy to prevent the spread of dengue.


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