Bangladesh Grapples with Dengue ‘Epidemic’: More than 170 Dead

By Staff, Agencies

Bangladesh is grappling with a deadly dengue outbreak as heavy monsoon rains in the country cause widespread infections and fill hospitals.

Health experts in the South Asian nation of 170 million people say the disease has already reached an “epidemic” proportion, even though the government has not officially declared one.

Until Sunday night, at least 176 people – 31 of them children aged below 14 – had died of the mosquito-borne fever, according to the Directorate General of Health Services [DGHS].

Wednesday was the deadliest day when 19 people died of the disease which has seen nearly 33,000 hospitalizations this year, says the DGHS data.

Officials said the death rate from the disease this year stood at an “alarming” five-year high of 0.53 percent, compared with 0.45 percent last year when a record 281 people had died of dengue in Bangladesh.

DGHS says 115 of the 176 deaths this year happened in the first 23 days of July. There were only 29 deaths last year in the same period.

Experts warn the situation could get worse in the coming days as both dengue hospitalization and deaths in Bangladesh usually reach a peak in August and September.