Dengue deaths: Families left behind to pick up the pieces

Little Nishan's search for his mother seems never-ending. As he scans the house calling out her name, he bursts into tears when she doesn't appear. Though his father, Swapan Mia, does everything to comfort the two-year-old, the quiet, heartbreaking quest continues.

Just six days ago, Nishan lost his mother, Sharmin Akter, to dengue.

"Nights are the hardest," said Swapan, 34, a mechanic at a garment factory in Gazipur's Boardbazar.

As Nishan grows restless, Swapan takes him for a short walk before settling with him cradled on his thighs. He swings his legs gently, hoping the rhythm will lull him to sleep.

"But he wakes up crying for his mother's breastmilk. He sobs helplessly. My eldest son understands a little that his mother is gone. But how do I make a baby understand?"

Sharmin, 24, a homemaker, developed a fever about a week before her death. Assuming it was nothing serious, she took paracetamol. But three days before she died, she began vomiting and grew too weak to move.

On September 19, Swapan took her to a local clinic where she tested dengue positive. Following the doctor's advice, he rushed her to Gazipur Sadar Hospital that night. But her condition worsened rapidly as she trembled and turned cold.

With a doctor's recommendation to take her to Dhaka, Swapan made the journey by battery-run rickshaw and CNG-run three-wheeler to the DNCC-run hospital in Mohakhali the next night. Doctors began treatment immediately.

By morning, she was gone.

"If I had brought her here earlier, she might have survived. My family is completely ruined," Swapan said, fighting back tears.

He is one of hundreds whose lives have been upended by dengue, a mosquito-borne disease claiming lives almost daily across the country, leaving dreams shattered and families in despair. Gaps in government measures and public awareness have made the crisis worse.

Each year, several hundred lives are lost and thousands endure physical and financial hardships due to dengue, which is no longer confined to cities or seasons.

Government mosquito-control drives remain largely ineffective, with experts blaming outdated strategies, poor planning, and the absence of a comprehensive policy.

As of yesterday, 188 people had died and 44,693, had been hospitalised.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, many patients and their families remain unaware of dengue's severity and seek care only when it becomes critical.

DGHS data shows 81 percent of dengue patients who died this year were admitted after three or more days of fever. Analysing 114 deaths, DGHS said 74 percent died within 48 hours of admission, half due to Dengue Shock Syndrome. Nearly 43 percent had comorbidities.

More alarmingly, people aged 20–30 account for the highest share of dengue deaths this year -- a group vital to the country's workforce.

One of them was Hasan Boyati, 25.

The youngest of three brothers, Hasan worked as a farm labourer in Patharghata of Barguna, the second worst-hit district after Dhaka.

After suffering from a fever for six days, his family discovered it was dengue when they rushed him to Patharghata Health Complex on the morning of September 19 in a critical state. He died later that night.

Hasan had married just a year ago. "His life ended before he could even begin his family life properly," said his sister-in-law. "No one and nothing can console his mother and wife."

His young widow Chadni could only whisper, "What will happen to me?"

Safia Begum's story is similarly heartbreaking.

A homemaker in her mid-40s from Narayanganj's Chashara, Safia had been running a fever for about four days. After medication, the fever subsided but the fatigue remained. Assuming it was due to her diabetes and thyroid issues, she did not seek immediate care.

As her condition worsened, she travelled to Dhaka three days later and tested positive for dengue. On September 16, she was admitted to Mugda Medical College Hospital. She died the next day.

"We had no idea it was dengue. We thought it was just a simple fever," said Monir Hossain, her son-in-law, still in shock.