The country’s dengue situation continues to worsen as 10 more people died of the mosquito-borne disease and 2,589 were hospitalised, bringing the total number of deaths to 32 and cases to 7,884 in three days this month.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 1,101 dengue patients were hospitalised in the capital and 1,488 were admitted to hospitals outside the capital in 24 hours until 8:00am on Thursday while 10 people died.
A total of 9,210 patients are now undergoing treatment throughout the country. Of them, 4,650 are receiving treatment in hospitals in Dhaka city.
Some 7,884 people were diagnosed with the disease and 32 died in three days of the current month while 43,854 were hospitalised and 204 died last month, said the DGHS.
Earlier, 5,956 cases were reported and 34 died in June while 1036 cases and two deaths were recorded in May, 143 cases and two deaths in April, 111 cases in March, 166 cases and three deaths in February and 566 cases and six deaths were logged in January this year.
The DGHS report said 59,716 patients have been detected and 283 died across the country this year.
Of the total dengue patients, 32,562 (54.52 percent) cases have been reported in the capital and 24,154 (45.48 percent) outside the Dhaka city while 38,111 (63.8 percent) were males and 21,605 (36.2 percent) females.
Of the total deaths, 226 were reported in the capital while 57 outside the Dhaka city.
Prof Dr Shahadat Hossain, director (MIS) of the DGHS, said the situation remains ‘stable’ in the capital while the number of dengue patients is increasing outside the city.
He said most of the patients died within one or two days after admission to the hospitals.
Health ministry sources said the government has arranged around 10,000 beds for dengue patients across the country while there are around 5,000 beds in hospitals in the capital.
The hospitals have overflowed with the dengue patients, causing serious saline crisis.
Dr ABM Abdullah, Professor Emeritus of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), and personal physician of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at a roundtable arranged by Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum at the DGHS conference room on Thursday said a person can be infected with the dengue virus for four times with different serotypes of the virus.
He said if any patient is infected with the different serotype of the virus for the second time, the patient’s condition may deteriorate.
“There is no alternative to destroying the Aedes mosquito to keep the dengue situation under control,” ABM Abdullah added.
The renowned physician expert in clinical medicine said patients should be tested for dengue virus with NS1 antigen within one to three days after fever to get actual result. “Otherwise, there is possibility of showing negative results.”              
He further said people experiencing any symptom of the dengue in their body have to consider it as dengue virus infection and go ahead with proper treatment accordingly.