Sri Lanka Reports 55,894 Dengue Cases, 74 Deaths So Far

Henavitz

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posted on 5 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Colombo alone recorded 11,854 dengue cases while the second highest cases of dengue were recorded at Gampaha with 8,976 cases.

Sri Lanka saw 55,894 dengue cases and 74 confirmed deaths from various parts of the country till October 18th. This shows a sharp rise in the number of mosquito-borne diseases considering only 58 deaths from dengue were reported for the whole of 2018, experts at the Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Unit said.

The Epidemiology experts described the sharp increase in the impact of Dengue in 2019 as "alarming" in comparison to 2018, Daily News reported. They added that 74 dengue deaths are an alarming rate when it comes to a period of only 10 months in comparison to 58 dengue deaths in the whole of last year.

One of the experts further added that the public should be aware of all types of mosquito breeding sites and destroy them on a regular basis. He further added that at least 30 minutes per week should be dedicated to cleaning mosquito breeding sites.

The Western Province alone recorded a total of 26,286 dengue cases, the highest among the provinces.

With the monsoons expected to continue, the Epidomology department further identified five high risk districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Ratnapura and Galle as being most prone to dengue.

Colombo alone recorded 11,854 dengue cases while the second highest cases of dengue were recorded at Gampaha with 8,976 cases. The third highest number of dengue patients with 5,456 cases being reported frol Kalutara district. The country saw 9,459 cases of dengue being reported in August alone.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has rapidly spread across various regions of the world in the last few years. Transmitted mainly by the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, it is widespread across the tropics, with local variations in risk being influenced by rainfall, temperature and rapid urbanization.

While recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that particular serotype (dengue has four main serotypes), the recovery is only partial and temporary when it comes to the other serotypes. Secondary infections increase the risk of developing severe dengue.