Dengue death toll crosses 1100-mark in Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Tuesday exceeded 1,100 dengue deaths as 13 new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours till 8am today, while 2,555 were admitted to different hospitals during the same period.

On September 20, Bangladesh witnessed 21 dengue deaths, the highest in a single day this year and it also saw the same highest figure on September 2.

"The death toll from dengue infection crossed the 1000-mark as the authorities recorded 1,109 dengue deaths between January 1 this year and October 10," a press release from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

"During the period, 617 dengue patients were hospitalised in Dhaka city while 1,938 were admitted to different hospitals outside it," the DGHS daily statement added.

"This year, 1,109 deaths, the highest in a year since dengue was detected in 2000, were reported from dengue disease while 281 died last year," the statement said.

With the new cases, the total number of patients rose to 2,28,779 the statement said, adding: "This year, some 21,90, 68 patients were released from different hospitals out of the total patients."

"A total of 8,602 dengue patients are undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Of them, 2,683 are in Dhaka while 5,919 are outside of the capital city," it added.

The authorities have recorded the highest number of dengue positive cases outside Dhaka in August this year, meaning the mosquito disease gripped the entire country.

August witnessed 71,976 dengue positive cases, the highest cases in a single month since dengue outbreak began in 2000 in the country, while 342 dengue-related deaths were reported in the current month, the DGHS statement said.