Bangladesh’s death toll from dengue crosses 1,400 this year amid worst outbreak

Hospitals across the country records 15 new fatalities and 2,103 cases in the latest daily count

The number of deaths caused by dengue this year in Bangladesh has crossed the 1,400 mark with 15 new fatalities reported by hospitals across the country in the latest daily count.

The toll stood at 1,408 on Sunday morning, and the annual caseload rose by 2,103 to 279,904, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Dhaka saw 433 new dengue cases and nine deaths from the mosquito-borne disease in this period.

Of the 6,704 dengue patients receiving treatment in hospitals across Bangladesh in the morning, 1,815 were in Dhaka and 4,889 outside the capital.

After a record 79,598 dengue cases and 396 deaths in September amid the worst outbreak of the disease, 67,769 cases and 359 deaths were reported in October. The number of cases in August was 71,976, with 342 deaths.

The death toll in the first five days of November is 60. As many as 8,729 new dengue cases have been recorded in this period.

Experts have blamed a prolonged monsoon and rising temperature, along with a lack of effective measures to kill the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the known carrier of the virus, for the outbreak.