Bangladesh records 23 new dengue cases, 2 deaths in a day

Hospitals in Bangladesh have recorded 23 new cases of dengue fever in a day, taking the tally of infections this year to 756 after the worst outbreak in the country’s history in 2023.

The death toll from the mosquito-borne virus increased by two to 10 in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, the Directorate General of Health Services said.

In 2023, Bangladesh recorded 321,179 hospitalisations and 1,705 deaths from the viral disease.

In the latest daily count, hospitals in Dhaka admitted three more patients, while the other districts recorded 20 new cases.

Of the 165 dengue patients undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country in the morning, 71 were in Dhaka and 94 outside the capital.

Experts have blamed a prolonged monsoon and rising temperature, along with a lack of effective measures to kill the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the known carrier of the virus, for the outbreak.