Two die of dengue fever in Bangladesh after 7 days

Two more people have died of Aedes mosquito-borne dengue fever in Bangladesh over the past 24 hours after a gap of seven days.

With that, the number of deaths from the illness has risen to 16.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) last reported a dengue-related death on Apr 5.

The latest victims were under treatment at hospitals in the Barishal divisional region, the agency added.

Meanwhile, 22 new patients were hospitalised with the disease across the country in a day. The total number of dengue patients admitted this year has now risen to 2,074.

The DGHS said as many as seven new patients were hospitalised in the Dhaka metropolitan area until Saturday.

In addition, three were hospitalised in the Dhaka Division, two in the Chattogram Division, and 10 in the Rangpur Division.

As many as 102 patients are currently undergoing treatment for dengue in hospitals across the country. Of them, 29 are hospitalised in the capital and 73 are outside Dhaka.

In 2024, a total of 101,214 patients were hospitalised due to dengue nationwide, with 575 fatalities reported.

This marks the third-highest number of hospitalisations due to dengue in the country’s history, while the death toll ranks as the second-highest.

The DGHS has been keeping records of dengue hospitalisations and fatalities since 2000.

Since then, a record 321,179 dengue hospitalisations were logged in 2023. That year also saw the most deaths with 1,705.