More than 1,000 people have died from dengue fever in Bangladesh this year, making 2023 the deadliest year due to dengue, since the disease was first detected in the country, according to government figures.
The Directorate General of Health Services said that more than 200,000 dengue cases were recorded this year.
In a recent 24-hour period, nearly 3,000 were admitted to hospitals because of dengue, the Daily Star newspaper said.
The Mayo Clinic says dengue fever is “a mosquito-borne illness that occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Mild dengue fever causes a high fever and flu-like symptoms. The severe form of dengue fever, also called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure [shock] and death.”
“All our efforts to control the mosquito population have been ineffective,” Mushtaq Hussain, a consultant at Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, told The Daily Star. He said the extended monsoon season is another contributing factor to the high case load.
Some information for this report came from AFP.
