Dhaka, Sept. 1 -- It will not be possible to bring down dengue infection rate to a zero level, but concerted efforts can help prevent another outbreak like the one experienced this year, said Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

"It'll take more time to bring the dengue situation under control. But bringing new infection rate to a zero level is quite impossible," he told UNB in an interview.

The DGHS chief said dengue has been there in Bangladesh since 2000 but the outbreak was sudden. "The dengue infection rate will come down in the next several years if we can [conduct] cleanliness campaign across the country and become aware ourselves," he said.

DGHS data showed that 69,435 ...