More than 90,000 people have been diagnosed with dengue in Bangladesh so far this year as the country grapples with its worst outbreak of the mosquito-borne viral fever.
A total 90,289people had been admitted to hospitals with dengue-related fever since Jan 1 with 88,709 being released after treatment, says the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
As many as 326 patients have been hospitalised across the country in the 24 hours till 8am on Monday (Oct 7). Of them, 90 new patients were admitted in Dhaka and 258 in outside the capital, the DGHS's Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room said in a statement on Monday (Oct 7).
Currently, a total of 1,327 patients are receiving treatment at government and private hospitals across the country. Among them, 455 patients receiving treatment at 41 government and private hospitals in Dhaka, another 872 are outside the capital, the statement added.
As many as 81 dengue patients have died across Bangladesh from Jan 1 till Oct 4, according to DGHS. However, the unofficial death toll is reported nearly 170, so far.
Dengue is common in South Asia, especially during the monsoon season which runs from June to September, and there is no specific treatment, but with early detection and access to proper medical care, fewer than 1 percent of sufferers die from the disease.
Globally, the number of dengue cases dropped in 2017-2018, but there has been a sharp increase in 2019, especially in Australia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, a Reuters reports said.
The dengue virus is spread by the Aedesaegypti mosquito which has grown rapidly along with urbanisation and globalisation because it thrives in tropical mega-cities and is easily spread in goods containing small puddles of water.
Of the millions of people infected with dengue every year worldwide, an estimated 500,000 develop severe symptoms requiring hospitalization, and of those, some 12,500 people die, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).