More than 3,000 dengue cases reported in two weeks

More than 3,000 dengue cases reported in two weeks

A sharp spike in dengue cases is straining the healthcare system, already battered by the coronavirus crisis.

In the 24 hours to Saturday morning, as many as 257 patients were admitted to different hospitals across the country, UNB reported citing official data.

With the latest hospitalizations, the number of dengue cases crossed 3,000 in just 14 days.

Among the new patients, 219 were admitted to government and private hospitals in Dhaka, .

The dengue outbreak has become a cause of major concern as the country is battling the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus with its limited healthcare facilities for the last few months.

So far, 24 suspected dengue deaths were reported to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) but it is yet to confirm any death from dengue, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Some 1,040 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Saturday morning, according to the DGHS.

Most of the cases have been reported in the capital so far, said the health authorities.

Of them, 954 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the rest were listed outside Dhaka.

Bangladesh started seeing an uptrend in dengue cases from June. It started seeing over 200 Dengue cases every day since August 1.

Some 5,902 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue since January, and 4,838 of them have been released after they recovered from the disease.

Dengue fever was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000, claiming 93 lives that year. In the years that followed, the country learned to deal with the disease much better, but it did become endemic. Fatalities almost fell to zero at one stage, before spiking again in 2018, leading to the horrific crisis the following year.