A Dhaka University student learning his lesson sitting inside a mosquito net at Sir Salimullah Muslim Hall on Saturday as dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, has broken out across the capital — FE Photo by Shafiqul Alam The number of people hospitalised with dengue fever kept rising across the country, breaking its all previous records on Saturday, officials and physicians said.
In last 24 hours till 7:00 pm on Saturday, two university students reportedly died of dengue fever, according to the victims' friends.
A total of 683 people were reported to have been hospitalised in last 24 hours ending at 8:00am on Saturday, according to health emergency operation centre and control room under directorate general of health services (DGHS).
Of the number, some 643 people were admitted to various hospitals and clinics in Dhaka city while 40 others outside the capital city.
With the latest ones, the number of people infected with dengue fever this season rose to 10,528 which is the highest in last 18 years in Bangladesh, DGHS sources said.
The highest number of dengue cases was reported in 2018 when 10,148 people were hospitalised, the sources added.
Dengue is now spreading outside the capital as more people are getting infected with viral fever that decreases the number of platelets which help the body form clots to stop bleeding. As a result, patients need platelet transfusion.
In the division-wise statistics (between July 01 and July 27), a total of 142 patients infected with dengue were hospitalised in Chattogram division, followed by Dhaka excluding the capital city (72), Khulna (71), Rajshahi (40), Barishal (35), and Sylhet (13).
Assistant director of DGHS's control room Dr. Ayesha Akhter said the number of dengue-affected patients reached all-time high on Saturday, breaking its previous records.
She said Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) received the highest number (233) of patients on the day.
Dhaka University sources said a student of Finance Department of the university named Firoz Kabir died of dengue fever at a private hospital on Friday night.
Kabir had been undergoing treatment at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of DMCH for a week before he was shifted to Square Hospital where he died around 10:00 pm on Friday.
A female student of Jahangirnagar University also reportedly died of dengue fever. She was identified as Mong La Tin, a student of pharmacy department of the university.
Talking to the FE, friend of the deceased Mongchong Ovy said she was diagnosed with dengue virus and admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital on July 17 last.
He said Mong La Tin was taken to her hometown in Cox's Bazar by her parents on July 19 last as she felt better.
"Suddenly her condition deteriorated yesterday (July 26) and was taken to a hospital there where she died this (Saturday) afternoon," he said.
After visiting DMCH, the hospital authority was found struggling to cope with an influx of dengue patients. Many patients were seen receiving treatment at the stairs.
DMCH Director Brig Gen AKM Nasir Uddin said patients infected with dengue kept coming from various parts of the country regularly.
"We received the highest number (233) of such patients today (Saturday). We tried our best to provide treatment to them despite various limitations," he said.
According to the DMCH data, a total of 1,690 dengue-affected people received treatment from the hospital since January this year and 1,026 returned home after getting treatment. Some 658 patients are undergoing treatment at DMCH.
A total of six people died of dengue fever so far at the hospital, according to the data.
As pressure of dengue-affected patients kept increasing, the authorities of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) opened a 40-bed dengue cell at the hospital on the day.
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