Dengue cases surpass 2-lakh mark, death toll reaches 975 this year
Staff Reporter :
The country on Friday recorded eight more fatalities from dengue while 1,793 patients were admitted to different hospitals in the capital and outside it in 24 hours till yesterday morning.
The death toll from the mosquito-borne disease rose to 975 this year and 2,00,981 patients were hospitalised, making this the deadliest year since the first recorded the vector-borne disease in 2000 in the country.
Off the new patients, 584 people were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and 1,209 outside the capital.
According to data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 9,526 dengue patients were undergoing treatment at different hospitals across the country yesterday morning.
A total of 1,88,424 patients have so far been released from hospitals across the country this year.
The country logged 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019.
Besides, it recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries in 2022.
According to health experts, the vector-borne disease hit Dhaka city in 2000 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.
The month of August has been the deadliest month of the outbreak this year with 71,976 cases and 342 fatalities
while, July alone recorded 43,854 dengue positive cases with 204 deaths, the DGHS statement read.
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.
