Over 39,000 hospitalised with dengue fever in Bangladesh this year

Another patient has died while receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital

Bangladesh has recorded one more death from dengue fever in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities this year to 156, while hospitalisations crossed 39,000 mark.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) bulletin on Tuesday said the patient was under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

A total of 665 new patients have also been admitted to hospitals with the Aedes mosquito-borne disease during the period, raising the tally of hospitalisations this year to 39,192.

Deaths due to the Aedes mosquito-borne disease have varied sharply across months. July saw the highest toll with 41 deaths, followed by 39 in August.

Another 19 patients died in June, 10 in January, seven in April, three each in February and May, while no deaths were reported in March. September has seen 34 fatalities.

Hospitalisations have also spiked seasonally. July alone accounted for 10,684 admissions, the highest monthly figure this year, followed closely by August with 10,496.

Other monthly totals include 1,161 in January, 374 in February, 336 in March, 701 in April, 1,773 in May, and 5,951 in June. As many as 7,716 patients have been admitted this month.

Of the 665 new patients in the past 24 hours, 224 were from the two Dhaka city corporation areas.

Another 125 were from elsewhere in the Dhaka Division, 81 in Chattogram, 135 in Barishal, 26 in Rajshahi, 39 in Khulna, 12 in Mymensingh, 14 in Rangpur, and two in Sylhet.

At present, 1,856 dengue patients are receiving treatment in hospitals across the country. Of them, 711 are in Dhaka and 1,145 outside the capital.

The health directorate has tracked dengue cases since 2000. The worst outbreak came in 2023, when 321,179 patients were hospitalised and 1,705 died.