Bangladesh records highest single-day dengue deaths

Staff Reporter :
The dengue outbreak has claimed more 21 lives in the last 24 hours till Saturday morning taking the death toll from the mosquito borne disease to 618 this year.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data, 2,352 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever during this period.

Among the new patients, 982 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital–indicating a worsening situation across the country, DGHS said.

A total of 8,632 dengue patients, including 3,903 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.

So far, the DGHS has recorded 1,27,694 dengue cases and 1,18,444 recoveries this year.

According to health experts, the vector-borne disease hit Dhaka city in 2000 and subsequently the dengue positive cases were detected in Dhaka city only.

But the dengue disease is changing its nature and it is gradually spreading across the country, they said, adding all 64 districts of the country have witnessed dengue positive cases.

Talking to journalists, several entomologists said that dengue by now emerged as an epidemic as it spread all over the country but observed that the concerned agencies, particularly city corporations could not take required steps to annihilate mosquitoes.

According to hospital authorities, the pressure of dengue patients has decreased slightly in healthcare facilities in Dhaka city, meaning the dengue situation is on a decreasing trend in the capital city, while the number of dengue cases is increasing outside Dhaka city.