Dengue claimed 103 lives in the first 18 days of October across the country with six more people dying from the mosquito-borne disease in the 24 hours up to 8:00am on Sunday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The latest fatalities raised the country’s dengue death toll to 348 this year, while 2,088 new patients were admitted to hospitals during the same 24-hour period, the DGHS said in its daily dengue report.
Of the six latest deaths, two were reported in areas under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), two under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), one in Dhaka Division outside the two city corporations and one in Sylhet Division.
The figures indicate that dengue continued to cause deaths across different parts of the country as hospital admissions remained high. However, the available daily report provides the latest fatalities by city corporation and division rather than individual district, making a district-wise ranking of deaths difficult to establish from these figures alone.
September remained the deadliest month of the year so far, with 148 dengue deaths. The disease claimed 43 lives in August, 36 in July and 13 in June.
One death was recorded in May, while two deaths each were reported in January and February. October’s 103 fatalities in just 18 days placed the month behind September in the cumulative monthly death toll.
Meanwhile, the DGHS recorded 112,400 dengue hospital admissions nationwide between January 1 and October 18. Of those patients, 106,026 had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 6,026 patients were receiving treatment in hospitals across the country, according to the latest report.
Dhaka’s two city corporations accounted for 463 of the 2,088 new hospital admissions in the latest 24-hour period. DNCC recorded 232 admissions and DSCC recorded 231.
Another 595 patients were admitted to hospitals in areas outside the two city corporations, within the broader reporting breakdown.
Among the other divisions, Khulna recorded 290 new admissions, followed by Rajshahi with 200, Barishal with 199, Chattogram with 161, Mymensingh with 93, Sylhet with 15 and Rangpur with seven.
The latest figures underline the continuing toll of dengue during October, with more than 100 deaths recorded in less than three weeks.
The DGHS data show that the national death toll has reached 348, while cumulative hospital admissions have exceeded 112,000 since the beginning of the year.