Dengue Outbreak: Dhaka saw most deaths this season

A staggering 65 percent of the deaths from dengue this year were in Dhaka district, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Health officials say many patients from outside Dhaka are being sent to the capital due to a lack of treatment facilities for critical dengue patients. In many cases, those patients cannot be saved.

According to data of the DGHS, 15 more people died from dengue in 24 hours preceding 8:00am yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 943 this year.

Of the 943, at least 617 patients (65.42 percent) died in Dhaka and the rest 326 (34.58 percent) in other districts.

Asked why Dhaka saw more deaths than other districts, Md Niyatuzzaman, director of Mugda General Hospital, said dengue infections have been prevalent among the residents of the capital and that's why deaths are high here.

"Most of the patients from outside Dhaka arrive in the capital in critical condition. If they die, their deaths are recorded in the city. This is another reason for the high mortality rate in Dhaka," he told The Daily Star.

Khalilur Rahman, director of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said many patients from outside Dhaka come here with dengue shock syndrome and they need ICU support.

"Their trips to Dhaka take a lot of time and they don't receive proper treatment on the way. As a result, many of them die on the way to hospitals or within a few hours after getting admitted. We don't get enough time to treat them," he said.

A total of 3,123 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country in 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday. Of them, 774 admissions were logged in Dhaka and 2,349 outside Dhaka.

As of yesterday, a total of 1,93,881 dengue patients have been admitted to hospitals this year. Among them, 80,490 were admitted to hospitals in the capital, and 1,13,391 to hospitals outside Dhaka.

Till September 25, the highest monthly deaths were logged in August with 342 fatalities. With yesterday's 15 deaths, September's death toll is now 350.

Meanwhile, a mobile court sealed off Deep General Hospital in Savar's Sreepur bus stand area yesterday afternoon and fined it Tk 50,000 for different irregularities, including charging patients extra for dengue tests, reports our Savar correspondent.