Dengue Cases: ‘End to outbreak can’t be predicted’

With 2,134 dengue patients hospitalised yesterday, the health directorate said when the outbreak will end cannot yet be firmly predicted.

In the last 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, 10 more patients died, including six in different hospitals in the capital, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

With the latest count, the total number of hospitalised patients rose to 99,995, while the the total number of fatalities reached 476.

According to the DGHS, the highest number of dengue patients requiring hospitalisation were from within Dhaka city, in the 29th to 30th weeks of this year.

However, in the 31st and 32nd weeks, the number of cases began lowering in Dhaka but cases continued to rise outside the city.

In the 33rd week, there was a declining trend countrywide and the number of hospitalised patients remained below 2000-mark. But, it crossed the mark again yesterday.

"We can't firmly predict when the dengue outbreak will come to an end this year," Prof Dr Shahadat Hossain, director of management information system at the DGHS, said in an online briefing yesterday.

He said that there are 2,600 beds dedicated to dengue patients in 20 public hospitals in Dhaka.

As of yesterday morning, 1,872 patients, out of the 7,582 patients currently hospitalised across the country, were undergoing treatment in the capital.