Bangladesh reports hospitalisation of 80 dengue fever patients in a day

As many as 80 patients with dengue fever have been hospitalised in Bangladesh in the latest 24-hour count as the number of cases continues to rise.

They include 73 in Dhaka and seven outside the capital, the Directorate General of Health Services said on Saturday.

The number of patients hospitalised with the mosquito-borne disease has increased to 1,704 so far this year, including 718 in the first 27 days of May.

The death toll from the disease this year has remained unchanged at 13 with no new fatality.

On Saturday, 202 dengue patients were being treated in hospitals.

Experts believe the actual number of dengue patients and the death toll are much higher as the official figures leave out those who do not get hospitalised while many people do not get tested.

Along with mosquito attacks, dengue cases increase during monsoon in the middle of the year in Bangladesh as stagnant water becomes the breeding ground of the Aedes-aegypti mosquito, the carrier of the dengue virus.

Last year, however, the cases started to rise in August and continued the upward trajectory to cross 50,000 hospitalisations in mid-November with more than 750 new patients hospitalised in a day at the peak of the deadly outbreak.

This year, the outbreak started before monsoon as parts of the country, including Dhaka, experienced sporadic summer rains.

The DGHS on May 24 warned the public of the increasing dengue cases in hospitals this year. It said the surge at this time of the year is worse than past few years, advising everyone to be cautious and take preventive measures during the upcoming monsoon season.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque also urged precautions on May 7, as the number of people getting infected with the Aedes aegypti-borne disease was gradually growing. The DGHS reported nine hospitalisations that day.

When the last death from dengue this year was reported on May 21, Bangladesh recorded 33 dengue hospitalisations.