Bangladesh dengue hospitalisations in 2021 top 6,000

The number of patients hospitalised with dengue fever in Bangladesh in 2021 has crossed 6,000.

As many as 198 were hospitalised with the mosquito-borne disease in the 24 hours to 8am on Sunday, taking the total number of hospitalisation of the year to 6,100, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Out of them, 3,442 were hospitalised in the first 14 days of August after 2,286 hospitalisations in July.

The latest cases include 189 in the hospitals of Dhaka.

A total of 1,049 dengue patients, including 960 in Dhaka, were undergoing treatment in hospitals on Sunday morning.  

The government received reports of 25 deaths from dengue this year, but its disease control agency IEDCR did not confirm the reports after review.  

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, however, experts fear a spike in the number of dengue patients from July amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As the prevalence of Aedes mosquito intensified in Dhaka, dengue has become a new menace for people amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

People suffer more as the dengue and COVID-19 illnesses manifest similar symptoms, complicating the diagnosis and isolation. Also, most of the big hospitals in Dhaka have been dedicated to treat COVID patients and therefore, dengue patients are not treated there.

This has mounted pressure on hospital management, with patients being rushed from one hospital to another.