Dengue death toll crosses 1,300

The death toll from dengue this year has crossed the 1,300-mark as another 11 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday.

The figure is 0.5 percent of total infections, showing a grim picture this year.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), at least 1,802 dengue patients were hospitalised across the country yesterday, raising the total number of cases to 2,62,631.

HM Nazmul Ahsan, associate professor at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said there are multiple reasons for the high rate of dengue deaths this year, including virus, patient and management related factors.

Of the four types of dengue strains, Den-2 serotype is mostly active this year and has a high severity. This is a reason for so many deaths this year, he said.

Around 87 percent of the patients were infected with serotype 2, according to a recent study of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute on dengue serotypes, Nazmul said.

"Serotype sequence is another factor. If a patient, who was infected with one serotype earlier, gets infected again with a new serotype, then its severity will be more, especially if the second infection is from serotype-2," he said.

"Serotype-2 was present in Bangladesh in 2017 and 2018 too, but the death rate was not high at that time. We are assuming that there are sub-serotypes of the Den-2 sequence which can be more severe, and may be active this year."

"Another reason is high rate of infection among high-risk group patients -- elderly, infant, obese, pregnant women and patients with comorbidity like diabetics, high pressure, heart, kidney, lung and liver problems," said Nazmul.

Also, many patients are coming to the hospital late with shock syndrome, which is another factor for the high number of deaths this year, he said. "This year we are observing many patients going into shock syndrome within two or three days which is unusual."

Many patients are coming from outside of Dhaka, he said.

"It takes several hours for a patient to reach the capital, during which he does not get enough fluids. Thus, many patients collapse even before they are admitted to hospitals," Nazmul mentioned.

He advised the authorities to improve dengue management systems outside the capital to lower casualties.

He said many private hospitals or clinics do not follow national guidelines in their dengue treatment.