Bangladesh on Thursday recorded this year鈥檚 highest single-day dengue death toll, with six people dying and 586 others hospitalised with the viral fever in the 24 hours till 8:00am.
With the latest deaths, the country鈥檚 dengue fatalities rose to 145 and hospitalisations to 36,682 since January, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
In the first 11 days of September, 23 people died and 5,206 others were hospitalised with dengue fever.
Two of the latest victims were undergoing treatment in Mugda Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, while one each died in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, DNCC Covid-19 Hospital, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Of the 586 new hospitalisations, 247 were from the two Dhaka city corporation areas, 104 from elsewhere in Dhaka division, 58 in Chattogram, 109 in Barishal, 44 in Rajshahi, 12 in Mymensingh, 10 in Rangpur and two in Sylhet.
At present, 1,792 dengue patients, including 746 in Dhaka and 1,046 in elsewhere in the country, are undergoing treatment in hospitals.
DGHS data shows that 1,161 patients were hospitalised in January, 374 in February, 336 in March, 701 in April, 1,773 in May, 5,951 in June, 10,684 in July and 10,496 in August.
It shows that 10 people died of dengue in January, three in February, seven in April, three in May, 19 in June, 41 in July and 39 in August.
Dengue has emerged as a major public health concern in Bangladesh over the past several years. The country reported its first official outbreak in 2000, when 93 people died and 5,551 were hospitalised.
According to DGHS data, dengue claimed 1,705 lives and sent 3,21,179 patients to hospitals in 2023 alone, compared to 853 deaths and 2,44,246 hospitalisations between 2000 and 2022.
Last year, the country witnessed another severe outbreak that resulted in 575 deaths and 1,01,214 reported cases, with 1,00,040 patients recovering during the period.
