Eight Zika virus patients detected in Dhaka this year

Eight cases of the Zika virus have been detected in Dhaka in October and November this year.

Four of them have been identified by tests conducted at the ICDDR,B and the four others at Evercare Hospital. All of them are Dhaka residents.

All eight were infected with the disease domestically but did not have any physical complications, doctors said.

Five patients with the virus were identified last year in Dhaka. They were detected in a study by the ICDDR,B.

The Zika virus is a disease spread by the Aedes mosquito. Symptoms of the disease include fever, mild headache, fatigue, conjunctivitis, joint pain, muscle pain, and red spots or rashes on the body.

ICDDR,B scientist Dr Mohammad Shafiul Alam told bdnews24.com on Wednesday, “The ICDDR,B centres in Mohakhali, Uttara and Dhanmondi collected 155 samples in October this year. The virus was found in the bodies of four patients. Two of them are from Uttara, one is from Mohakhali, and one is from Mohammadpur.”

Dr Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research-IEDCR, said on Wednesday: “From October to November of this year, four people tested positive for the Zika virus in a private hospital in Dhaka. They are residents of Dhanmondi, Shyamoli, Baridhara, and the Bashundhara residential areas.”

From October last year to January this year, 399 people with fever were screened. Of these, 152 samples were tested and five of them tested positive for the virus.

Shafiul said that the ICDDR,B started its research in October last year. That is why those who came to the ICDDR,B Diagnostic Centre for dengue tests and whose results came back negative were molecularly tested.

“Five of them were found to have the Zika virus. Last year, those five were within one kilometre of Mohakhali and its surrounding areas.”

There are two types of Zika virus - African and Asian. The patients in Dhaka have the Asian strain of the disease, he said.

He said, “All of the patients are healthy, there are no problems. None of them have a history of going abroad. That means the infection occurred locally.”

The Zika virus was first detected in Bangladesh in 2014, so it is not a new disease, Shafiul said. However, as testing is rarely done, it is not detected.

Asked whether there is a risk of the disease spreading further in Bangladesh, he said, “There is no risk at the moment. This disease could spread in the future. There is a risk of contracting GBS (Guillain-Barré syndrome). Pregnant mothers are at the highest risk. We cannot say whether the strain we have found here will be like that or not without testing.”

IEDCR Director Tahmina said that people should be afraid of Zika, but they can remain safe from the disease if mosquito populations can be controlled.

“If a mother is infected with the disease, the child may have birth defects, or may die. To control it, mosquitoes must be controlled. Everyone should keep places where Aedes mosquitoes can breed clean.”