The loss of life toll from Bangladesh’s worst dengue outbreak on document has topped 1,000 this yr, official knowledge confirmed, with hospitals struggling to create space for sufferers because the illness spreads quickly within the densely-populated nation.
At the least 1,017 individuals have died to this point in 2023 and practically 209,000 contaminated, the information confirmed, making this the deadliest yr because the first recorded epidemic in 2000.
The present loss of life toll is almost 4 occasions greater than the entire of final yr, when Bangladesh recorded 281 dengue-related deaths.
Hospitals are struggling to seek out area for the big variety of sufferers struggling excessive fever, joint ache and vomiting whereas there’s a scarcity of intravenous fluids, well being officers mentioned.
“I don’t understand how my son was contaminated … immediately he grew to become feverish. I rushed him right here after which medical doctors discovered that he has dengue,” Sanwar Hossain advised Reuters as he watched his son in Mugda Basic Hospital within the capital Dhaka.
DENGUE OUTBREAK SURGES IN BANGLADESH, RAISING ALARM OVER RECORD DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
The hospital’s administrator, who goes by the only identify Niatuzzaman, mentioned that though sufferers from Dhaka have decreased in latest days, the variety of individuals being admitted from rural areas of the nation have elevated, calling it a “regarding” signal.
There is no such thing as a vaccine or drug that particularly treats dengue, which is frequent in South Asia through the June-to-September monsoon season because the Aedes aegypti mosquito which spreads the illness thrives in stagnant water.
A nurse administers remedy to a affected person with dengue at Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical Faculty and Hospital on July 26, 2023. (REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File picture)
Entomologists and epidemiologists say rising temperatures and longer monsoon seasons are offering supreme breeding circumstances for mosquitoes.
The surge in instances has prompted the federal government to step up its anti-dengue marketing campaign, from elevating consciousness to efforts to kill mosquito larvae following a spell of rains, officers mentioned.
Nonetheless, an absence of correct prevention measures has allowed the dengue-carrying mosquito to unfold throughout Bangladesh, mentioned Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist and zoology professor at Jahangirnagar College.
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“From 2000 to 2018, dengue is barely occurring in Dhaka metropolis, however in 2019 it’s transferred into totally different cities. This yr it’s transferred into the agricultural areas additionally.”
Famend Bangladeshi doctor ABM Abdullah advised Reuters that early detection and entry to correct medical care can scale back deaths to fewer than 1% of victims.
