Dengue Outbreak: Death toll crosses 1,400

The death toll from dengue this year crossed the 1,400 mark, as 11 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday.

According to Directorate General of Health Services, at least 15 patients died and 2,103 others were hospitalised across the country yesterday, raising the total number of cases to 2,79,904.

HM Nazmul Ahsan, associate professor at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said there are multiple reasons for the high rate of dengue deaths this year, including virus, patient and management related factors.

Of the four types of dengue strains, Den-2 serotype is most active this year and has high severity. This is the reason why there are so many deaths this year, he said.

Around 87 percent of the patients were infected with Den-2 serotype, according to a recent study by Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, Nazmul said.

“Serotype sequence is another factor. If a patient, who was infected with one serotype earlier, gets infected again with a new serotype, then its severity will be more, especially if the second infection is from serotype-2,” he said.

“Another reason is high rate of infection among high-risk groups — elderly, infants, obese, pregnant women and patients with comorbidity like diabetics, high pressure, heart, kidney, lung and liver problems,” Nazmul noted.

Additionally, many patients are coming to the hospital late, with shock syndrome. This year, we are observing many patients going into shock syndrome in just two or three days, which is unusual, he shared.

“Many patients are also coming from outside Dhaka. It takes several hours to reach the capital, during which patients do not get enough fluids. Thus, many patients collapse even before they are admitted to hospitals,” Nazmul added.