SL surpasses dengue epidemic threshold: Health expert

• Worst is yet to come

By Sheain Fernandopulle

Irrespective of the speculations that the dengue epidemic could strike by June, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Senior Consultant Physician at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) told Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka had already reached the epidemic threshold, adding that the worst is yet to come. Dr Wijewickrama said “At the moment, we are experiencing an epidemic. The worry is that it is likely to get worse,”  

“Normally, the number of patients tend to increase in June and July. Sri Lanka has already recorded over 34,000 cases. In that context, the worst is yet to come,” he highlighted.  

As such, Dr Wijewickrama said it is imperative that people should be cautious of this regard and take prompt steps to prevent mosquito bites.  

According to the statistics of the Epidemiology Unit, the total number of cases reported for 2023 stands at 34,527 of which nearly 50 percent of cases are from the Western Province. Gampaha has reported 7799 dengue cases while Colombo and Kalutara have reported 7725 and 2033 cases respectively.

• Gampaha has reported 7799 dengue cases while Colombo and Kalutara have reported 7725 and 2033 cases respectively