Dengue continues to exact a heavy toll in the country, with two divisions, Dhaka and Barishal, accounting for over three-fourths of the fatalities and nearly three-fourths of total hospitalisations this year.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services, Dhaka and Barishal together record 76 per cent of dengue deaths and 70 per cent of hospitalisations among the eight divisions.
Sylhet and Rangpur remain the only divisions without any reported deaths so far.
The DGHS in its latest update reported that one person died of dengue and 664 others were hospitalised across the country in the 24 hours ending 8:00am Tuesday.
With this, the overall dengue death toll rose to 182 while hospitalisations climbed to 43,173 since January.
Dhaka reported the highest 17,671 hospitalisations and 110 deaths, followed by Barishal with 12,455 cases and 28 deaths.
Sylhet logged the lowest figure with 132 cases and no deaths, while Rangpur reported 338 cases but no fatalities.
Entomologists said that the relatively low figures in Sylhet and Rangpur suggested that dengue transmission had not yet spread widely in those regions.
But they warned that the virus could reach new areas if infected people from Dhaka travelled home carrying the virus.
The rest four divisions also reported significant caseloads: Chattogram registered 6,578 hospitalisations with 23 deaths, Rajshahi 2,928 with 10 deaths, Mymensingh 915 with six deaths, and Khulna 2,156 with five deaths.
Public health experts note that historically Dhaka has remained the epicentre of dengue outbreaks, with Chattogram consistently ranking second in terms of hospitalisations and deaths.
But this year, Barishal has replaced Chattogram.
The DGHS data further revealed that September had already become the deadliest month of 2025 so far, with 60 dengue deaths recorded in just three weeks, surpassing the previous peak of 41 fatalities in July.
The current month has also seen the highest hospitalisations so far this year, with 11,697 admissions with seven days still remaining.
Dengue deaths have been reported in almost every month of the year except March, with 10 deaths in January, three in February, seven in April, three in May, 19 in June, 41 in July, and 39 in August.
Monthly hospitalisations, however, fluctuated along the months up till June after which they jumped to nearly double鈥�1,161 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.
Public health experts have repeatedly warned that without aggressive vector-control measures, systematic patient tracing, and strengthened hospital capacity, the dengue crisis may spiral further out of control.
鈥楨very day we are getting new dengue cases,鈥� Dhaka South City Corporation acting chief health officer Dr Nishat Parveen admitted. 鈥楾he trend is on the rise in Dhaka.鈥�
National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine professor and entomologist Golam Sarwar stressed the need for 鈥榟ospital-centric crash programmes and patient tracing鈥�.
鈥業f the authorities fail to act immediately, the situation will worsen, causing greater suffering and higher fatalities,鈥� he cautioned.
The DGHS recently issued a 12-point directive to hospitals across the country, instructing them to prioritise dengue treatment as cases and deaths continue to rise.
