16-30yr olds at higher dengue risk

The young population -- aged between 16 and 30 -- are more susceptible to dengue, doctors of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said yesterday.

Although the risk of dengue this month [July] was lower than previous months, the outbreak could escalate in August, they warned based on analysis of 10-year data.

Prof Saif Ullah Munshi, chairman of the department of virology at BSMMU revealed the study on “Current dengue outbreak and result of the recent study” at a press conference in BSMMU, Dhaka.

Vice chancellor Prof Kanak Kanti Barua and senior doctors of the university were present at the event.

“We have prepared the study based on dengue SN1 tests on some 4,067 patients from January to July,” said Prof Saif Ullah Munshi while presenting the study.

He informed that they have found the 16-30 year-old population, who are comparatively more capable of working, are more vulnerable to dengue.

“People living in Dhaka are being affected with all four types of dengue — den-1, 2, 3 and 4. Men are more prone to it than women,” he said citing their study.

He also said some patients have been affected a second time. “Of them, some one to five percent are at risk of death. But it could be avoided through proper treatment,” he added.

In July, some 800 of 2,999 people who took the SN1 test were found dengue-positive.

The number of dengue-positive patients was 203 out of 491 in June.

“The percentage has reduced in this month because more people are coming for dengue SN1 tests,” Munshi said.

Twenty-six out of 185 patients were tested dengue-positive in May, compared to eight out of 154 dengue-positive cases in April. The study found just one dengue-positive patient in January, February and March each.

The ratio of female to male dengue patients was found to be 1 to 2.7.