By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Bangladesh reported an additional 275 dengue fever hospitalizations in the past 24 hours, bringing the outbreak total for the year to 15,976, with the bulk of cases being reported since July. About 11 percent of the total cases since the beginning of the year have been reported outside the capital city of Dhaka.
211 of the new cases were reported in Dhaka. The death toll remains at 59, with Dhaka accounting for 54 of the fatalities.
The surge in dengue cases has put a strain on blood banks trying to keep a stock of platelets in a rush of blood use by dengue patients with critically low platelet counts.
A dengue patient may need three to six bags of blood for improving his condition, according to doctors.
Ashraful Haque, an assistant professor in the Department of Blood Transmission at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS), said that as the dengue season is going on, “people are being affected at a massive rate.”
Bangladesh reports two Nipah virus cases in 2021
Two years ago, the worst dengue outbreak in Bangladesh since 2000 left 101,354 sick with the dangerous serotype-3 variant of the virus-the same one is at work in 2021 as well- and caused at least 179 deaths, according to the DGHS.
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