AGL 40.20 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-3.13%)
AIRLINK 129.11 Increased By ▲ 1.11 (0.87%)
BOP 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.34 (5.43%)
CNERGY 4.03 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-2.42%)
DCL 8.45 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
DFML 41.25 Increased By ▲ 0.56 (1.38%)
DGKC 87.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-1.02%)
FCCL 33.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.75 (-2.2%)
FFBL 65.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-0.65%)
FFL 10.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.19%)
HUBC 110.70 Increased By ▲ 2.00 (1.84%)
HUMNL 15.23 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (5.33%)
KEL 4.78 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.8%)
KOSM 7.83 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (6.82%)
MLCF 41.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-1.92%)
NBP 60.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.56%)
OGDC 182.80 Increased By ▲ 3.83 (2.14%)
PAEL 25.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-1.32%)
PIBTL 6.26 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (3.3%)
PPL 147.81 Increased By ▲ 1.66 (1.14%)
PRL 24.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.35 (-1.41%)
PTC 16.24 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.62%)
SEARL 70.50 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.43%)
TELE 7.30 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.11%)
TOMCL 36.30 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.28%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.13%)
TREET 15.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-1.86%)
TRG 51.70 Increased By ▲ 1.34 (2.66%)
UNITY 27.35 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (1.67%)
WTL 1.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.81%)
BR100 9,842 Increased By 47.4 (0.48%)
BR30 30,036 Increased By 389.6 (1.31%)
KSE100 92,520 Increased By 499.1 (0.54%)
KSE30 28,786 Increased By 121.7 (0.42%)

DHAKA: Bangladesh is struggling to tamp down a surge in dengue cases as climate change turns the disease into a year-round crisis, leaving some paediatric wards packed with children squeezed two to a bed.

The Aedes mosquito that spreads dengue – identifiable by its black and white striped legs – breeds in stagnant pools, and cases once slowed after the monsoon rains faded.

“Normally, around this time, we would expect the flow of patients to ebb,” said Fazlul Haque, walking through a ward crowded with dengue patients at Dhaka’s Shaheed Sohrawardi Medical College.

“For the last three weeks, the number of dengue cases has been increasing”.

“We get dengue patients almost every month,” said Sabina Tabassum Anika, the doctor running the children’s dengue ward.

“With cases higher than previous months, we’re assigning two children to each hospital bed to accommodate them.”

Last month, Bangladesh recorded 134 deaths from dengue, the deadliest month this year, taking the total in 2024 to 326.

Cases are lower than last year, when more than 1,000 died, but dengue deaths are now being recorded nearly every month, medics say.

More than 65,000 cases had been recorded at the start of November. Severe cases can trigger bleeding, internally or from the mouth and nose.

The World Health Organisation has warned of the “alarming” spread of the virus, with reported cases worldwide approximately doubling each year since 2021.

Dengue fever, malaria, Chikungunya: some of the many battles Karachi is fighting

More than 12.3 million cases, including more than 7,900 deaths, were reported in the first eight months of 2024.

Sheikh Daud Adnan, from the Communicable Disease Control (CDC), said efforts should be made to destroy larval sites.

“Too often, we delay and act only after an outbreak”, Adnan said.

“People still don’t fully believe that dengue can strike any time of the year, often mistaking it for a seasonal fever.”

Comments

200 characters