Every year during monsoon season, Bangladesh faces a spike in the rate of dengue outbreak. Last year, the Rohingya camps faced 17 deaths and 15,352 infections which was the highest-ever dengue casualties reported in the refugee camps.
This year, “Two Rohingya men have already died due to dengue fever,” said Sarwar Jahan, Assistant Health Coordinator at the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner.
The Civil Surgeon’s office in Cox’s Bazar has confirmed an astronomical 1,066 dengue infections by May 25, compared with over 1,600 infections reported over the same period in the entire nation.
“It is likely both infections and deaths will set new records this year,” said Epidemiologist Zakir Hossain. Hossain said the disease was apparently getting stronger and may stick around almost the entire year.
“The Rohingya are particularly vulnerable to the disease because of their lack of awareness about it and the absence of prompt diagnosis of the disease at the camps,” the Epidemiologist added.
“There is a high possibility of a severe outbreak and we are preparing for it,” said Mahbubur Rahman, Civil surgeon and Chief Health Officer for Cox’s Bazar. He warned that an Aedes mosquito can infect many within seconds, hence keeping densely populated refugee camps safe from mosquitoes is really difficult.
Shah Fahim Ahmad Faisal, Medical Officer of disease control at the office of the Civil Surgeon observed that the shanties in the camps serve as an ideal breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes “as their plastic or polythene-covered roofs often collect rainwater in their folds.”
Apparently, to tackle the outbreak the number of hospital beds is inadequate for a million refugees in Cox’s Bazar. The 250-bed state-run Cox’s Bazar Sadar hospital has only 40 beds dedicated to dengue patients. There are 67 organizations taking care of primary healthcare in Rohingya camps but meeting the needs of such a huge population including about half a million children leaves to a wider challenge.
