ඩෙංගු නිසා කොළේ වහලා ගහන දැවැන්ත අවදානම​ක්

The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) states that the actual number of people afflicted by dengue could be much higher than the officially reported daily figures in the country. The association has issued a serious warning that if the current situation is not given serious attention, Sri Lanka could already be facing the initial stages of a large-scale outbreak similar to the severe dengue epidemic seen in the country in 2017.

Commenting to the media on this matter, Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe, Media Spokesperson for the Government Medical Officers' Association, stated that although nearly 1,500 dengue patients are officially identified daily, the actual number of infected individuals could be significantly higher. Compared to the previous week, there has been a notable increase of approximately 150 percent in reported cases, and this trend can be identified as an extremely adverse and critical turning point in the epidemic's spread.

It has been revealed that current official statistics are based only on data from hospitalized patients, and a majority of people who contract dengue and receive self-treatment at home are not included in the national disease surveillance system. The Government Medical Officers' Association points out that due to this, the true severity of the epidemic is not yet properly visible to society, and emphasizes that although health authorities have introduced various strategies and control methods to curb the spread, no significant reduction or progress in the overall dengue spread in the country has been observed so far.

In the past day alone, 1,422 newly identified infections have been reported, bringing the total number of dengue patients reported in the country this year to over 61,000. Against a backdrop where the public is expressing deep concern and various opinions are emerging regarding this rapid increase in patients and the effectiveness of current control methods, medical professionals have clarified the current situation as follows.