Dr Edwin Salvador, acting representative of World Health Organization (WHO) in Dhaka, has reckoned the dengue situation in Bangladesh as alarming.
Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection, spreads among humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes.
The WHO country representative made the comment after a meeting with the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sayeed Khokon at the latter’s residence in the capital on Saturday.
Salvador said: "There are two ways to evaluate the situation -first, the number of dengue patients and second, the number of dengue suspects. The number of dengue patients is increasing along with the suspects. And, till now, the situation is deteriorating.
He said the condition would turn epidemic if such a trend continued.
"We are working with the city corporation and the Health Ministry as they have their own strategies to deal withthe situation. In this meeting, we talked to find out the gap of action and strategy."
DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon also expressed concern over the situation. "If we fail to become aware, the situation may turn complex."
"We do not expect the situation to get difficult. Do not panic. Be conscious, careful and keep your homestead clean."
The mayor also said they would change the medicine to kill Aedes mosquito if required.
"We procure medicine from a navy-owned organization. The WHO will test the effectiveness of the medicine as soon as possible and suggest us whether it has to be changed or not," he added.
From January 1 to July 18, a total of 5546 people have been affected with the dengue virus while five of them died, data by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) shows.
However, unofficial records say the number of infected people is much higher with death toll reaching over 20.
