Dengue claimed 14 more lives including 10 in the capital city in the past 24 hours till Monday morning, taking the death toll to 327 this year.
Besides higher death toll, newly 2,751 patients were also hospitalised across the country after becoming affected with the mosquito-borne disease.
The recent days have been witnessing the worst dengue scenario of the year as 17,651 people have been hospitalised in the first seven days of the month.
The figures were 43854 in July and 5,956 in June.
With the new patients, a total of 69,483 people have been hospitalised with the deadly disease in the calendar, according to the daily updates issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of them, 59,584 have already been released from hospitals after getting cured.
Currently 9572 dengue patients are hospitalised including 4,652 in Dhaka city hospitals and 4,920 in different districts.
UNB report adds, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said Monday efforts will be made to bring dengue vaccine if approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The minister said this at a press conference on human papilloma virus (HPD) vaccination to prevent cervical cancer at the secretariat on the day.
"The vaccine (dengue vaccine) has not yet been developed. If it is developed and approved by the WHO, we will try to bring this vaccine," said the minister
"We found that the number of patients was very high in July, we got about 45,000 patients. In 2022, there were only 1,500. We got 15,000 patients in 7 days in August. In all, 66,700 patients have been treated and 313 have died. The mortality rate did not increase as much as the number of patients," he said.
"To control dengue, you have to control the Aedes mosquito. Where this mosquito is born, the larvae should be destroyed by spraying. There are city corporations, municipalities, we have advised them," said Zahid.
"We are getting dengue patients from every district, which means Aedes mosquito has spread in every district. Measures need to be taken to control Aedes mosquitoes not only in Dhaka city but across the country and this programme needs to continue throughout the year," the minister added.
There are 3,000 beds for dengue in Dhaka, the health minister said, adding that "Now 2,100 patients are admitted. The rest of the beds are empty. There are patients outside Dhaka. There are 5,000 beds ready in hospitals outside Dhaka. More than 9,000 dengue patients are admitted across the country."
"The need for saline has increased by 10 times. A patient admitted to the hospital needs 4-5 five bags of saline. As a result, 40,000 bags of saline are needed every day. Hospitals are struggling to get saline but are getting it. Those who make saline have been asked to increase production. I hope the treatment is not disrupted due to saline," the minister also said.
"We take whatever measures are necessary to provide treatment. The patient's condition suddenly worsens and he dies. This requires special training. Doctors and nurses have been trained. I'm letting people know how to prevent it. It's a multisectoral approach, everyone has to work together," he said.
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