The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has recoded 29 deaths from dengue in the six days of the current month till Sunday amid a sharp rise in dengue cases in different parts of the country. Three more deaths from dengue in 24 hours till Sunday morning raised this year's fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 170, the second-highest on record after the 179 deaths recorded in 2019.
During the 24-hour period, 908 patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The gradual increase in dengue infections has created panic among the residents of Dhaka city. Hospitals are failing to cope with the pressure of dengue patients despite setting up new wards.
Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of Aedes mosquito, the carrier of the dengue virus, are appearing to be inadequate. Of the latest deaths, two were reported from Dhaka and one from Chattogram division.
The new figures raised the death toll in Dhaka division to 105, in Chattogram division to 43. Of the new patients, 476 were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 432 outside it, according to the DGHS. A total of 3,368 dengue patients, including 2,042 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
The directorate has recorded 43,107 dengue cases and 39, 569 recoveries so far this year. On Thursday, the country reported nine dengue deaths, the highest death toll from dengue in a day this year. Dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh exceeded all previous records in 2019, mostly in the capital city of Dhaka. A total of 101,354 dengue cases with 179 dengue-related deaths were officially recorded.
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