Dengue claims 19 more lives

The health authorities reported 19 deaths from dengue on Wednesday, including some previous unreported fatalities in the capital. 

A total of 1,792 people have been hospitalised with the mosquito-borne viral disease in 24 hours since 8:00 am on Tuesday, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). 

In a press release in the afternoon, the DGHS also said with the fresh fatalities, the total death count from dengue stood at 146 while 99 were recorded in the current month. 

Among the latest deaths, 17 were reported in Dhaka and the remaining two from outside the capital. 

The dengue situation continued to deteriorate in the capital as it alone registered 992 new cases on Wednesday, rising from 779 cases of the previous day.

According to the DGHS, a total of 25,000 dengue patients have been admitted to hospitals due to fever this year – 16,398 in Dhaka and 7,179 outside the capital.

The number of cases and fatalities recorded during the first six months of this year have surpassed all historic figures.

The situation took a turn for the worse in July as some 99 people have so far succumbed to dengue in the month, when there were only nine deaths in the previous July.

Dengue claimed some 281 lives in the previous year, which is the highest ever death toll the country recorded in a year. Prior to that, some 179 fatalities were recorded in 2019, seven in 2020, and 105 in 2021.