At least 1,017 die and practically 209,000 are contaminated, making 2023 the deadliest 12 months for the reason that first recorded epidemic in 2000.

More than 1,000 folks in Bangladesh have died of dengue fever this 12 months, official knowledge reveals – practically 4 occasions greater than in the entire of final 12 months.

At least 1,017 folks have died within the first 9 months of 2023 and practically 209,000 have develop into contaminated, making it the nation’s worst recorded outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease for the reason that first tallied epidemic in 2000. Among the lifeless are 112 kids aged 15 and underneath, together with infants.

Hospitals in Bangladesh are struggling to create space for sufferers because the illness spreads quickly within the densely-populated South Asian nation.

Dengue is a illness endemic to tropical areas and causes excessive fevers, complications, nausea, vomiting, muscle ache and, in essentially the most severe circumstances, bleeding that may result in dying.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that dengue and different ailments attributable to mosquito-borne viruses, comparable to chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika, are spreading quicker and additional as a result of local weather change.

There isn’t any vaccine or drug that particularly treats dengue, which is frequent in South Asia through the June-to-September monsoon season because the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the illness thrives in stagnant water.

However, in recent times, hospitals in Bangladesh have additionally begun to confess sufferers affected by the illness throughout winter months. Those with repeat infections are at better danger of problems.

Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, a physician at Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, stated most sufferers admitted at his hospital had been struggling their second or third circumstances of dengue.

“When people have dengue for the second, third or fourth time, the severity is increased. The number of deaths are also higher,” he advised AFP information company.

“Many are coming to us when it’s already late in their illness,” he stated. “Then it’s really complicated to treat them.”

Bangladesh has recorded circumstances of dengue from the Nineteen Sixties, however documented its first outbreak of dengue haemorrhagic fever, a extreme and generally deadly symptom of the illness, in 2000.

The virus that causes the illness is now endemic to Bangladesh, which has seen a pattern of worsening outbreaks for the reason that flip of the century.

The surge in circumstances has prompted the federal government to step up its anti-dengue marketing campaign, from elevating consciousness to efforts to kill mosquito larvae following a spell of rains, officers stated.

However, a scarcity of correct prevention measures has allowed the dengue-carrying mosquito to unfold throughout Bangladesh, stated Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist and zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University.

“From 2000 to 2018, dengue only happened in Dhaka city, but in 2019 it transferred to different cities. This year it transferred into the rural areas also.”