News Source: aljazeera.com
Facing its most severe outbreak in history, the densely populated country of Bangladesh is grappling with over 1,500 deaths and overwhelmed hospitals. In the capital, Dhaka, the situation is particularly dire, with the dengue ward at Mugda Hospital witnessing a surge in patients.
For 23-year-old Mosammat Mayna, the hospital cleaner, each visit to the dengue ward is fraught with sorrow and fear. Her sister, Maria Ratna, succumbed to dengue last month while working as a cleaner in the same ward. Mayna, now employed in her sister’s stead, shared the devastating experience: “Our family was devastated by Ratna’s death, but since I was out of work, I took the offer despite being very scared.”
The unprecedented dengue outbreak in Bangladesh has pushed hospitals to their limits. Last Wednesday marked a grim milestone as the country recorded its highest single-day death toll from the mosquito-borne disease, with 24 fatalities. Dengue, transmitted through mosquito bites, poses an increased risk in places with a high concentration of infected patients, intensifying concerns for those yet unaffected.
Health experts express alarm as dengue typically recedes in the South Asian region with the conclusion of the annual monsoon rains by late September. However, the current outbreak defies this pattern, deepening concerns among the medical community.
As of Monday, the death toll stands at 1,549 people, including 156 children, with a total of 301,255 recorded dengue cases this year in Bangladesh, according to the government’s Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS). This staggering figure is nearly five times higher than last year’s tally of 281 fatalities, the highest in Bangladesh’s history until this year’s outbreak. The last record for the highest number of cases in a single year was 101,354 in 2019.
Dr. Mohammed Niatuzzaman, director of Mugda Hospital, expressed his astonishment at the unprecedented scale of the dengue outbreak, noting the influx of patients from all corners of the densely populated country. “It’s very unusual to see such a large number of dengue patients in November,” he remarked. The situation remains critical as Bangladesh grapples with the daunting challenges posed by this relentless outbreak.