Five dengue patients die in 24 hours

Five more dengue patients died in 24 hours till Thursday morning, raising this year's death toll from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 192.

Dengue cases have continued to increase in Bangladesh, with 888 more new patients hospitalised by the mosquito-borne deadly virus during the said period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Of the new patients, 475 were admitted to various hospitals in Dhaka, and 413 were hospitalised outside the capital city.

A total of 3,248 dengue patients, including 1,915 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.

Professor Dr Nazmul Islam, director of the Communicable Disease Control unit of DGHS, told The Business Standard (TBS), "It (dengue) is expected to start decreasing from the second or third week of this month. But if it rains again, dengue will increase again."

"If the city corporations continue operations to eradicate mosquitoes, if waste management is good, and if people keep their surroundings clean, then the number of patients will start decreasing," he added.

On 21 June, the DGHS reported the first death caused by dengue this season. This year, the directorate has recorded 46,486 dengue cases and 43,046 recoveries so far.

This year's dengue cases and casualties became the highest since 2000 when the government formally started keeping records on dengue. Some 5,551 dengue cases and 93 deaths were registered in 2000.

However, the highest so far of 101,354 dengue cases and 179 deaths were reported in 2019.