Bangladesh records 1,429 dengue cases, 8 deaths in a day

The tally of infections this year rises to 298,094, and the death toll stands at 1,528

The number of new cases of dengue fever in Bangladesh has increased by 1,429 in the latest daily count, taking the tally of infections this year to 298,094.

The death toll from the mosquito-borne disease rose by eight to 1,528 in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

In Dhaka, hospitals admitted 302 patients in this period while the other districts recorded 1,127 new cases. The death toll in the capital was five.

Of the 5,558 dengue patients undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country in the morning, 1,457 were in Dhaka and 4,101 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 16 days of November is 180. As many as 26,919 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.