Dengue claims 9 lives, Death toll now 161

Nine more deaths from dengue in 24 hours till Thursday morning raised this year’s fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 161. This is the highest death toll from dengue in a day this year.

Of the deceased, six were from Dhaka, raising the fatalities in the division to 100, two were from Rajshahi division raising the death toll to six and another was from Chattogram taking the death toll to 41.

The death toll remained unchanged at six each in Khulna and Barishal, at four in Mymensingh division.

During this time, 882, more patients, including 498 in Dhaka city, were hospitalised with the mosquito-borne disease, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

A total of 3,676 dengue patients, including 2,276 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.

DGHS has recorded 40, 983 dengue cases and 37,146 recoveries so far this year.

Even before the country's healthcare system has been able to fully recover from the blow of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is being hit hard by a recurrence of an outbreak of dengue, the disease that is endemic to Bangladesh.

Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of Aedes mosquito are proving to be inadequate.

Dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh exceeded all previous records in 2019, mostly in the capital city of Dhaka. A total of 101,354 dengue cases with 179 dengue-related deaths were officially recorded.