Dengue claims record 13 lives in 24 hrs

Bangladesh has registered the highest single-day death toll from dengue fever at 13 on Tuesday, taking the number of total deaths to 127.

Nine of the deaths have been recorded in Dhaka, while the others in different districts, said the directorate general of health services (DGHS) in a press release on Tuesday.

According to the release, the fatalities were recorded in 24 hours commencing from 8:00 am on Monday. During the period, some 1533 people have been hospitalised with the mosquito-borne viral fever. Of them, 779 have been admitted to hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining ones are outside the capital.

The health directorate also said a total of 24,000 people have so far been hospitalised with the viral fever this year. Among them, 15,476 cases were reported in Dhaka, while 8,524 cases were registered 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 80 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.