Dengue claims 6 more lives

Staff Reporter:

Bangladesh on Saturday logged its highest single-day spike in dengue infections this year, with 1,195 new hospital admissions in the 24 hours till Friday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The figure surpasses the previous record of 1,162 cases reported on 2 November, underscoring the country’s escalating struggle to contain the mosquito-borne disease.

During the same period, six more people died from dengue, raising the total death toll this year to 313. With the latest infections, the cumulative number of dengue cases has climbed to 78,543 nationwide, DGHS data show.

Of the latest fatalities, two occurred at the DNCC Dedicated Covid-19 Hospital, two at Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital, and one each at Mugda Medical College Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Public health experts have voiced deep concern over the rapid surge in infections, warning that the outbreak could continue well into the winter. Dr M Mushtaq Hossain, a prominent epidemiologist and former chief scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said lingering rainfall has created ideal conditions for Aedes mosquitoes to breed.

“Even after the rain stops, dengue will continue for at least two more months — infections will peak in the first month and gradually decline in the next,” Dr Mushtaq said, predicting that the outbreak could persist until mid-January.

He stressed that effective prevention depends on community action and a sustained cleanliness drive. “The key to dengue prevention is destroying mosquito breeding sites and maintaining cleanliness. We are removing one tonne of garbage, but ten tonnes are piling up. Routine cleaning is not enough — we need a nationwide cleanliness drive with thousands of volunteers,” he said.

Calling dengue deaths “shameful” for a preventable disease, he added, “We have trained healthcare workers and modern treatment facilities, but deaths continue because we are not working in a coordinated way.”

According to DGHS data, 61.8 percent of dengue patients this year are male and 38.2 percent female. Among the fatalities, 53.2 percent were men and 46.8 percent were women.

Last year, Bangladesh recorded the highest-ever number of dengue deaths — 575 — alongside 101,214 infections and 100,040 recoveries. This year’s figures, while slightly lower in total infections so far, have raised fears that the mortality rate may exceed last year’s if the outbreak continues at the current pace.

Health officials have urged the public to seek early treatment, eliminate standing water around homes, and cooperate with municipal drives to prevent further escalation of the crisis.