Dengue numbers hit record high as mosquito breeding season sets in
33 people have died of dengue so far this year when there were none this time last year
Experts are ringing alarm bells as Bangladesh logged the highest single-day dengue deaths and hospitalisations this year on Saturday with the coming of mosquito breeding season.
Four dengue patients died and 477 patients were admitted to hospitals in the country during the past 24 hours till 8am on Saturday.
Among the fresh dengue cases, 402 were reported in Dhaka city, while 75 were from outside the capital, according to a bulletin of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
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A review of DGHS data reveals that 20 patients died in the 17 days of June. This is 61% of the total 33 dengue deaths in the year so far. There were only six days without any dengue-related deaths this month.
The total number of cases this month is 2,581 – about 56% of the total number this year.
There is a possibility that the dengue situation will take a dire shape in August and September due to rain, Jahangirnagar University Zoology dept professor Entomologist Kabirul Bashar told The Business Standard.
Kabirul Bashar suggested dengue hotspot management immediately and collecting addresses of dengue patients to clear their houses of mosquitoes.
The highest number of dengue cases in the country was in 2019. That year, one lakh one thousand patients were admitted to different hospitals in the country due to dengue. In June of that year, there were 1,884 dengue patients with six deaths.
The highest toll in a year due to dengue was recorded last year with 281 deaths. In June 2022, there was only one death and 737 cases of dengue.
If the dengue situation is not controlled now, the number of dengue cases may be higher than in 2019, Zoologist Kabirul Bashar warned.
He said that days after Eid-ul-Azha are at the most risk of spreading dengue. "After Eid, dengue will spread in all 64 districts."
Health directorate data shows that dengue has spread in 45 districts of the country.
After Dhaka, Chattogram has the worst situation. This year, 27 people died of dengue in Dhaka and 5 in the port city and one in Barishal.
Among the districts, dengue has spread in 11 districts of the Dhaka division and 10 districts of the Chattogram division.
Besides, dengue patients were found in five districts in Barishal division, three in Mymensingh, eight in Khulna, four in Rajshahi, two in Rangpur and one in Sylhet division.
Currently, 1,138 dengue patients are taking treatment at different hospitals across the country and 911 of them are from Dhaka.
A total of 4,603 dengue patients have been hospitalised across the country so far this year, but only 690 were hospitalised in the same period last year.
