DHAKA (BERNAMA-ANADOLU) – Bangladesh continues to report deaths due to dengue infections over the past month amid a changing behaviour of the deadly disease, Anadolu Agency reported.
This September saw 80 dengue-related deaths, accounting for half of the total 166 deaths reported this year since January. Of the more than 32,000 hospitalisation cases, over 18,000 were reported in September alone.
Experts forecast a worsening situation in October, adding that most deaths are occurring because patients are arriving at hospitals in the late stages of the disease.
“On Monday, we registered five deaths in hospitals caused by dengue. Of them, four died the day they were admitted and one died two days after being admitted (to hospital),” Dr. Abu Hussain Md. Moinul Ahsan, director at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told Anadolu.
“Despite all the preparation and logistics at hospitals, we cannot save lives if patients are taken to hospital late,” the official said.
Raja, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from the Uttar Badda neighbourhood in Dhaka, survived a dengue attack.
“Our boy didn’t face extreme conditions as we took him to a nearby private hospital immediately after we noticed a rise in his body temperature,” his mother, Mona Barua told Anadolu, criticising the official anti-dengue campaign as a ‘name-only’ tradition.
Medicine specialist Dr ABM Abdullah told Anadolu that fatalities increase when patients arrive late at the hospital, adding that casualties are higher among those infected with dengue for the second or third time.
He explained that an individual can be infected up to four times, as there are four separate variants of the dengue virus.
He said the healthcare system in Dhaka encourages patients from across the country to rush to major hospitals in the capital, which also contributes to the rising number of dengue-related deaths.
“When a patient with a serious health condition from another city 200-300 kilometres away is taken to Dhaka, it certainly reduces the chance of the patient’s survival. Furthermore, the average ambulances are not equipped with required medical care,” Dr Abdullah said.
Therefore, he suggested initial treatment of patients at districts or town hospitals.
“We see a change in the symptoms. Patients often couldn’t determine that they are already infected and their condition suddenly deteriorates,” Dr Abdullah explained.
Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist and professor at Jahangirnagar University who has been researching dengue mosquitoes and their behaviour for years, told Anadolu that his research revealed dengue mosquitoes can lay eggs in unclean stagnant water and bite both during the day and night.
“We cannot control the Aedes mosquito with a common approach as its breeding, larvae season and living environment are different from other mosquito species,” he explained.
He observed that the city authorities’ anti-dengue campaigns are inappropriate, suggesting redesigning the mosquito control as it doesn’t kill dengue at home.
The DGHS official, however, claimed that the local government is also working to destroy breeding grounds and control dengue mosquitoes in consultation with entomologists.
The viral dengue infection is transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes, and there is currently no treatment for the disease. In 2023, Bangladesh reported a record 1,705 deaths due to dengue and a total of 321,179 cases, according to DGHS data.
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