Health directorate has aired concern over the dengue situation that could deteriorate in the days ahead, as it reported 237 dengue patients hospitalised during the past 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
The Directorate General of Healthcare Services (DGHS) said the dengue situation is posing a threat this year as the mosquito-borne disease broke out terribly in 2019.
In a regular health bulletin, DGHS director Prof Nazmul Islam said dengue has increased alarmingly during monsoon in recent years.
"We are on the verge of an alarming situation that is similar to that in 2019, when the dengue outbreak affected us severely," he added.
Presenting data on the vector-borne disease this year, Prof Islam said 2,286 cases were reported in July, whereas the first three days of August recorded 788 cases, signalling an upcoming worse condition.
"In the wake of such an alarming situation, all of us have some responsibility to prevent mosquito menace through cleaning households and addressing waterlogging."
Prof Islam suggested conducting dengue test along with Covid-19 when a patients feels the need to do so.
According to a DGHS statement issued to the media, of the new 237 patients-dengue positive or suspected cases-221 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka city.
Of the total, Dhaka division reported 226 cases, Chattogram seven, Barishal two, and Rajshahi and Khulna reported one case each during the period.
Currently, 1,058 dengue patients have remained hospitalised for treatment while total reported cases across the country have reached 3,683according to official figures.
Meanwhile, the DGHS sent eight suspected death cases from dengue fever to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research for analysis.
The actual number of dengue patients in the country could be much higher than the official figures as the DGHS prepared the report based on 41 public and private hospitals in Dhaka and a few from other divisions.
More than 0.1-million people were infected with the communicable disease and over 160 died in 2019.
