16 dengue patients die, 2,564 hospitalised

Staff Reporter :
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Wednesday said that the decision on inoculation of people with dengue vaccines will be taken only after getting the recommendation of the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG).

DGHS Additional Director General (Planning and Development) Professor Ahmedul Kabir said it at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.

He said that the DGHS has already sought the advice of NITAG on the use of dengue vaccine in the country.
Apart from these, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the use of the ‘Qdenga’ vaccine.

However, they have also given an age limit condition. This vaccine is nothing new.

WHO’s advice is that this vaccine can be used. However, just because it (WHO) has cleared it, it cannot be said that it is an ideal vaccine,” said Ahmedul Kabir.

“In addition to ‘Qdenga’, there is another dengue vaccine called ‘Dengvaxia’.

However, it is not possible to use it without screening. This vaccine is effective against only one type of dengue.

This vaccine is not safe for those who have not been infected with dengue before.

In addition, children under the age of nine are not eligible for this vaccine,” he also said.

“We have told the NITAG about the vaccine. We cannot make any decision on dengue vaccine without consultation/recommendation.

NITAG said it would hold a meeting soon and take a decision. If they give advice, we will sit to take a decision,” said the DGHS additional DG.

Responding to a question on when dengue infection will decrease, Ahmedul said, “If the temperature does not fall, the dengue infection may not decrease. Dengue now depends on temperature. If the rain does not stop, we’ll not see a decrease.”

Meanwhile, the DGHS said that a total of 16 dengue patients died and 2,564 were admitted to different hospitals in the country during the last 24 hours till Wednesday morning.

“The death toll from dengue infection crossed the 1000-mark as the authorities recorded 1,046 dengue deaths between January 1 and October 4 this year,” a press release from the DGHS said.

“A total of 720 dengue patients were hospitalised in Dhaka city while 1,844 were admitted to different hospitals outside the capital city during the period,” the DGHS said.

“This year, 1,046 deaths, the highest in a year since dengue was detected in 2000, were reported from dengue disease while 281 died last year,” the statement said.

With the fresh cases, the total number of patients rose to 2,14,247, the statement said.

“A total of 9,284 dengue patients are undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Of them, 2,945 are in Dhaka while 6,339 are outside of the capital city,” it said.

The authorities have recorded the highest number of dengue positive cases outside the capital in August this year, meaning the mosquito-borne disease gripped the entire country.