Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Thursday called on people of all political persuasions to work together against dengue, saying the fight cannot be left to the government alone.

Speaking as chief guest at a leaflet-distribution drive at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, part of a BNP central programme, he said public awareness and the destruction of Aedes mosquito breeding sites could largely contain the disease’s spread. He urged anyone with fever to seek medical advice promptly rather than self-medicate.

Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Administrator Dr Shahadat Hossain said the mosquitoes breed in stagnant water in flower pots, discarded tyres, coconut shells, plastic containers and refrigerator trays, and that water should never be left standing for more than three days. Patient numbers at the hospital and the corporation’s dengue centre have fallen, he said, adding that the CCC uses the Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) method to destroy larvae and offers free NS1 antigen and complete blood count tests.

Infections rose in September and October, but he expects a gradual decline as rainfall eases in November.