13 more die of dengue

Staff Reporter :
Dengue fever claimed 13 more lives in the last 24 hours till Friday morning, raising the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in the country to 1,148 this year, a press release from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

It said that 1,673 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever during the period.

Among the new patients, 478 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital – indicating a worsening situation across the country, the DGHS data showed.

It said that a total of 8,248 dengue patients, including 2,538 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.

The DGHS has recorded 235,204 dengue cases and 225,808 recoveries so far in this year.

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 data also said that September has so far been the deadliest month for the dengue outbreak this year with 396 fatalities and 79,598 cases.

The month of August has been recorded as one of deadliest months 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.