56 new dengue patients hospitallised in 24hrs

Fifty-six new dengue patients have been hospitalised in the past 24 hours. The number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease remained unchanged at 98 in the current year as no fresh death was reported during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Monday.

Ninety people died in Dhaka division alone, two each in Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and one each in Rajshahi and Barishal divisions.

Forty-three new patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 13 cases have been reported from outside the division. Some 268 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Monday.

Of them, 192 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining 76 were listed outside Dhaka.

Since January, some 27,660 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue in the country. So far, 27,294 dengue patients have left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.

Experts attribute the unusually high dengue cases during the dry season, mainly in Dhaka, to the prolonged rainy season, sporadic rainfall, and high humidity and temperature, Aedes mosquitoes' reproductive and behavioural changes caused by climate change and lack of people’s awareness and poor controlling measures by the two city corporations of the capital.

They also said the climate conditions of Bangladesh are becoming more favourable for the Aedes mosquitos to prevail in all seasons with high or low intensity mainly for the increase in temperature and breeding sources.