Almost 1,000 people have died from dengue in Bangladesh this year. This is the worst outbreak ever in the country. The problem is that rainy seasons have been very wet, and this has made it easier for mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus to grow in dirty water that doesn’t flow. The government has had a tough time stopping the disease from spreading, and hospitals are filled with patients.
Dengue can be very serious. It can make you bleed inside your body, and sometimes it can even lead to death. Some common signs of dengue are headaches, feeling sick in your stomach, and pain in your joints and muscles. Dengue is a big problem in warm countries, especially in crowded cities with bad hygiene that helps mosquitoes spread. In the past, dengue used to happen only sometimes in Bangladesh, but now, because the rainy seasons are hotter and wetter due to climate change, it happens more often. The first recorded outbreak was in 2000.
Doctors have noticed that people are getting sicker from dengue much faster than in the past. In the last two months, up to 20 people have died from dengue every day, and this year’s death toll is higher than in the last 22 years. Bangladesh is trying to tell people how to stop mosquitoes from growing. But Dr. Mushtaq Hussain, who knows a lot about public health, says that many people think dengue is just a short-term sickness and don’t take it seriously.
The World Health Organization says that dengue has been found in all of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. Lots of dengue patients are going to hospitals in the capital city, Dhaka, but most hospitals are already full. They’re also running out of the special fluids needed to treat dengue because patients often get dehydrated.
Image Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/24/more-than-170-dead-as-bangladesh-grapples-with-dengue-epidemic