Keep Dengue At Bay

Nepal is no stranger to repeated dengue outbreaks. The first case of dengue in the country was identified in 2004 in an India-returnee traveler. The disease has since been endemic here with all its four serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4) known to exist and circulate within the region. However, it was in 2022 when the outbreak reached epidemic proportion, with cases reported from all 77 districts of all seven provinces. By the end of that year, 54,784 cases and 88 related fatalities were reported. The cases were seen to be heavily clustered in Bagmati Province with the country’s capital Kathmandu being the worst affected with 14,376 cases, followed by Lalitpur with 9,614 cases. The unusually high pre-monsoon rainfall attributed to climate change and mismanaged waste disposal system were mainly blamed for the severity of this disease.