Health

Bangladesh dengue deaths at an all-time high

Dhaka, Nov 8 (EFE).- Bangladesh reported five new deaths from dengue on Tuesday, bringing the toll from the viral disease to 182 this year, the highest since the official tally began in 2000.

Some 179 people died from dengue in 2019 in the country’s previous worst outbreak.

The Directorate General of Health Services reported 820 new hospitalizations with dengue in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, bringing the number of hospitalization from the disease to 44,802 across the country.

The caseload is believed to be much higher as many people are still outside the government surveillance network.

In 2019, the number of dengue cases recorded in the country was 101,354.

Some 3,223 dengue patients are now undergoing treatment at health facilities across the country, an official statement said.

Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes flu-like illness, is transmitted by female mosquitoes, mainly of the Aedes species.

The symptoms of the potentially deadly disease include headaches, muscle, and joint pains, and body rashes.

Dengue cases usually start rising in July and come down in October.

According to the authorities, at least 41 people died of the disease, and 6,778 were hospitalized in November, showing a new trend.

“Unlike the past years, dengue will not completely go this time. From now on, it will persist across the year,” Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist and zoology professor at Bangladesh’s Jahangirnagar University, told EFE.

Kabirul blamed climate change and other reasons for the continuing dengue outbreak until November.

“Due to climate change, dengue increased worldwide. Also, we could properly manage dengue at the start of the year. Our unplanned urbanization is also responsible for the prolonged outbreak,” he said.

Officials said the number of dengue cases is exceptionally high in Rohingya refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, which house most of the 774,000 Rohingyas that have fled Myanmar due to military violence since August 2017. EFE

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