Six more die, 734 others hospitalised in 24 hours

A total of 8,243 dengue patients were hospitalised across the country in the first 15 days of October till Saturday morning, the highest monthly figure in October in the past 23 years since 2000.

At least six more dengue patients died and 734 others hospitalised across the country in the past 24 hours ending 8:00am on Saturday, said a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services.

DGHS health control room official Shahadat Rahman said that five of them died in Dhaka city and one died in Chattogram.

The past 15 days of hospitalisation accounted for 33.88 per cent of this year’s total official hospitalisation, the official data showed.

Earlier in 2019, 8,143 dengue patients were admitted to health facilities in October, when 1,01,354 dengue patients were hospitalised and 179 of them died, according to the DGHS account.

The DGHS data showed that a total of 5,458 hospitalised cases were reported in October 2021, 164 in October 2020 and 2,406 in October 2018, while the highest yearly hospitalisation was reported at 6,232 in 2002.

Of the new hospitalisations, 468 were reported in Dhaka city and 266 in other places of the country, said the press release.

The mosquito-borne viral disease forced 24,326 people to be admitted to health facilities across the country, and 89 of them died.

Of the total 89 deaths this year, 50 died in Dhaka city, one in Narayanganj district, 33 in Chattogram and five in Barishal divisions.

Month-wise, one died in June, nine in July, 11 in August, 34 in September, and 34 in the first 15 days of October, while no official death was reported between January and May.

A total of 9,911 patients were reported in September alone this year, the highest in a month.

A total of 3,571 people affected by dengue were hospitalised in August, followed by 1,571 in July, 737 in June, 163 in May, 23 in April, 20 each in February and March, and 126 in January, according to the official data.

A total of 2,889 dengue patients, including 1,992 at 51 public and private hospitals in the capital, are now undergoing treatment at hospitals across the country.

A total of 17,924 patients, or 73.68 per cent of this year’s total hospitalisation, have been reported in Dhaka city.

In April, the health directorate in a pre-monsoon survey found a higher density of Aedes mosquitoes in the capital compared to that in 2021, predicting a worsening dengue situation this year in the city unless preventive steps were taken.

The DGHS revealed its monsoon survey in September and found the mosquito density twice as high in Dhaka city as in the pre-monsoon survey.

In 2021, at least 28,429 dengue patients and 105 deaths were recorded officially, which represented the second-highest numbers since 2000 when the government started keeping records of dengue deaths and hospitalisations.