Helemul Alam

The ongoing intermittent rain, particularly in Dhaka, will worsen the dengue situation if the authorities fail to take the necessary steps to kill adult mosquitoes and destroy all breeding sources, entomologists said.

After 19-year-old Mohammad Masud was diagnosed with dengue a few days ago, he returned to his Pirojpur home to stay with his parents.

Asma Begum took her five-year-old son and a 12-year-old relative, both suffering from fever, to get their NS1 and CBC tests, required to determine dengue, at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, as per doctor’s advice, on Thursday.

July has turned out to be the deadliest month since the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in the country way back in 2000.

With 10 new deaths recorded yesterday, 178 people have died from dengue just in the month of July.

As a deadly dengue outbreak tightens its grip across the country, an escalating number of lives are being claimed each day.

With the city hospitals struggling to accommodate a growing number of dengue patients, deaths from the viral fever are increasing at a higher rate compared to the previous years.

It is the only hospital in the country that was declared by the government to be for dengue patients

The country has been grappling with an alarming surge in dengue-related fatalities this July, with 99 deaths already recorded within the first 19 days of the month.

Late hospital admissions and negligence in timely doctor visits are believed to be the reasons why patients aged between 18 and 40 are the worst affected age-group in the ongoing dengue outbreak, experts said.

Sazedur Rahman, 40, a resident of Gaibandha, had been suffering from fever since the last week of June.

The Dhaka city corporations seem to have learned little from the past when it comes to controlling Aedes mosquitoes, as early measures were not taken to avert this year’s deadly dengue outbreak, experts say.

As dengue cases continue to increase across the country, Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital, like other city hospitals, is struggling with the mounting pressure of patients for the past week.

In a grim trend over the last few days, the number of child dengue patients has shot up in hospitals across the capital.

A total of 7,978 dengue cases were recorded till June this year. The number was only 2,204 for the first six months of 2019, the year Bangladesh witnessed 1,01,354 cases, the highest number of infections in the country so far.

In a worrisome development, the deadly dengue fever has rapidly spread its grip across Bangladesh, reaching 57 districts of the country.

14 deaths recorded in first four days of July

A yet-to-be-released survey carried out by the health directorate gives a worrying picture of the spread of Aedes mosquito -- carrier of the virus responsible for dengue fever -- in Dhaka city.

On July 1, the last day of the Eid holidays, the intermittent rain in the morning followed by an hour-long downpour in the afternoon  submerged several neighbourhoods of Dhaka  in knee- to waist-deep water, effectively washing away  tall claims of monsoon preparedness by the city corporations.

The price of sacrificial animals, especially bulls, at different cattle markets in the capital, saw a slight drop yesterday, compared to the last two days.