Dengue cases fall slightly, 3 more die

Three more dengue patients died in Keraniganj of Dhaka, Faridpur and Shariatpur on Monday night and early Tuesday although there is a downtrend in fresh dengue cases across the country, reports UNB.

At least 1,572 patients were hospitalised in 24 hours till 8am on Tuesday while 6,470 patients are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals and clinics.

Of the deceased, a rickshaw-puller identified as Shaheb Ali, 35, died in Faridpur district while a housewife, Fatema, 45 died at Mitford Hospital.

In Faridpur, Shaheb Ali of Matikanda in Sadar upazila of Rajbari was admitted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital with fever on Monday, said Mahfuzur Rahman Bulu, an assistant director at the hospital.

He died around 10:30pm.

Seven people have so far died of dengue at the hospital, Bulu said.

At least 70 people infected with dengue were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours, raising the number of dengue patients to 357.

Fatema, hailing from Bandar upazila of Narayanganj, died at Mitford Hospital on Monday after being diagnosed with dengue.

Some 105 new patients with dengue fever were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours as of Tuesday while 81 people got released from the hospital after taking dengue treatment.

In Shariatpur, housewife Suraiya Begum, 35, wife of Kamal Dhali, died after being infected with dengue at her house in Damuda upazila, said former upazila health and family planning officer Syed Anowar Hossain.

She was diagnosed with dengue on 16 Aug.

Civil surgeon Khalilur Rahman said so far 326 dengue patients were identified. Currently, 56 patients were being treated at hospitals in the district.

The number of dengue patients was 1,615 on Monday, 1,706 on Sunday, 1,460 on Saturday, and 1,719 on Friday, according to the Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Meanwhile, the number of new infections at district level also declined in the last 24 hours from Monday's 858 to 822 on Tuesday.

Currently, 3, 413 patients are hospitalised in the capital and 3,057 around the country.

The government has so far confirmed the deaths of 40 people although unofficial estimates suggest the death toll is much higher.

Since the beginning of this year, 56,369 patients infected with dengue were hospitalised.