More than 2,500 people hospitalised for dengue in August

The tally of hospitalisations for dengue has crossed 2,500 in August on the back of 213 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Among the latest cases of the mosquito-borne viral infection, 188 patients were admitted to 41 government and private hospitals in the Dhaka metropolitan area over the 24 hours to 8am Wednesday, according to the health directorate.

A total of 2,534 patients have been hospitalised in the first 10 days of August, surpassing July's tally of 2,286.

The dengue virus carried by Aedes aegypti mosquitos put more than 100,000 people in hospitals in 2019. The threat of dengue declined last year, when only 1,405 people were down with the disease as per hospital records.

This year, the number of dengue patients began to surge in July amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts are worried about the massive pressure on public healthcare system as it tries to handle the dual challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and the massive spike in dengue cases.

As many as 907 dengue patients were receiving treatment at hospitals -- 841 of them from Dhaka city.

Of the 5,192 dengue patients hospitalised so far this year, 4,260 returned home after recovery.

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research received reports of 22 suspected dengue deaths so far.