“Tell the government that dengue will end everything,” is what a distressed Ujjal Biswas said after losing his 20 months old son to dengue at a Dhaka hospital on Tuesday (Jul 23).
The mosquito-borne viral disease has taken a severe turn this year with official figures showing 7,766 people getting infected since January and six of them losing their lives.
More than 5,500 cases were recorded only in July, the highest number for a month in the history of Bangladesh for the disease.
As of Monday (Jul 22), the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has recorded 5, 637 cases in this month only. Before this, the highest number in a month was last year in September — 3,087.
According to doctors, dengue symptoms have changed and they recommended seeking a consult immediately when one contracts a fever instead of waiting the standard three days.
Doctors suggest not to neglect fever even after the recovery.
They said that dengue shock syndrome is common this time which sends the patient into multiple organ failure leading to their deaths.
Biswas’s son Soumya succumbed to dengue at Universal Medical College Hospital in Dhaka.
The father had only one plea: “Tell the government to take steps or there’ll be more parents mourning the deaths of their child.”
He said that his son was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) on Sunday in a critical condition. He succumbed to dengue shock syndrome at 11: 45 am.
“Dengue shock syndrome is the worst part of dengue. The one suffering from it has no blood pressure and as a result go into multi-organ dysfunction,” said Dr Ashish Kumar Chakraborty, managing director of Universal Medical College Hospital.
He said that Soumya had a pulmonary hemorrhage causing his lungs to bleed.
According to Dr Kumar, so far four children have been admitted to their hospital.
According to the DGHS, 473 dengue patients were hospitalised across the country on Tuesday. Of them, 469 people were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka city. Two were hospitalised in Khulna and two outside of Dhaka city.
Currently, the Dhaka Medical College Hospital is treating 99 dengue patients, the DGHS said. There are 52 dengue patients in Mitford Hospital, 16 in Dhaka Shishu Hospital, 43 in Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, 60 in Holy Family Red Criscent Hospital, 15 in Birdem Hospital, 13 in Rajarbagh Police Hospital, 36 in Mugda Medical College Hospital, five in Pilkhana’s BGB hospital, one in Kurmitola General Hospital and 131 in private hospitals.
Since Jan 1 this year, a total of 7,766 people were admitted to hospitals with dengue across the country. The number of patients outside the capital is 73. Eight of them were hospitalised in Chattogram and 37 in Khulna.
Usually the months of August and September are the peak period. But this year an early spike has been seen since May.
Dengue first struck Bangladesh in 2000, killing 93 people. Since 2003, the death rate has gradually declined with zero fatalities in some years.
But last year it took a devastating turn with over 10,000 infections and 26 deaths, according to the government statistics.
According to the WHO, the global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades. About half of the world's population is now at risk.
Dengue mosquito, Aedes aegypti, breeds in clean water mostly in and around the houses.
Household flower vase, buckets, tyre, and tubes where water remains stored are the perfect place for the breeding of the dengue mosquito.