Infection of Dengue in Bangladesh broke all the past records on Saturday. Hospitalisation due to dengue has crossed record since 2000, the year it appeared in Bangladesh, rising the hospitalisation figure to 10,528 till Saturday this year, though the prime time of dengue infection is still to come this year. On Saturday, Health Services’ health emergency operation centre and control room said in the past 24 hours, at least 683 dengue patients were hospitalised, the highest ever hospitalisation of dengue patients in a day since 2000.
Health Services director general Abul Kalam Azad admitted that the dengue situation now becomes ‘epidemic’. “Yes, the dengue situation becomes epidemic,” he told reporters on Saturday at his office in the capital, replying to a question about how grave the dengue situation has become. The first dengue case in Bangladesh was detected in 2000. Till Saturday, a total of 60,506 patients have been hospitalised with the infection, 305 of whom died, according to compiled data of Health Services.
The number of patients hospitalised crossed the 6,000 mark four times since 2000 – with 6,232 in 2002, 6,060 in 2016 and 10,148 in 2018. Till Saturday of July, hospitalisation of dengue patients reached to 8,384, with at least eight deaths this year though unofficial reports said the death figure could be at least 34.
The control room keeps record of 47 hospitals only – 12 government and 35 private hospitals in Dhaka — and prepares the report though countless patients take treatment from other private hospital and doctors.
On Saturday, at least 2,671 dengue patients were taking treatment at different hospitals, including 658 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, 207 at Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital, 200 at Mitford Hospital, 194 at BGB Hospital and 172 at Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital. Dengue also spread outside the capital, with at least 373 dengue patients hospitalized at different hospitals in the districts.
On Saturday, the at least 128 patients were under treatment at different hospitals in 16 districts of Dhaka division and in Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barishal divisions.
