Dengue claims four more lives, 254 hospitalised in 24hrs

Hospitals in Bangladesh have recorded 254 new cases of deadly dengue fever in the latest daily count, taking the tally of infections so far this year to 319,236.

The death toll from the mosquito-borne disease increased by four to 1,682 in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

In Dhaka, hospitals admitted 63 patients in this period while the other districts recorded 191 new cases. Two of the deaths occurred outside the capital, reports bdnews24.com.

Of the 1,563 dengue patients undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country in the morning, 474 were in Dhaka and 1,089 outside the capital.

After a record 79,598 dengue cases and 396 deaths in September amid the worst outbreak of the disease, 67,769 cases and 359 deaths were reported in October. The number of cases in August was 71,976, with 342 deaths.

The death toll in November was 274. As many as 40,716 new dengue cases were recorded last month.

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.