By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The dengue fever situation in Bangladesh in July has surged to a historical record with over 6400 cases reported in the first 24 days of July.

Aedes aegypti/CDC

From July 1 through July 24, 6,421 dengue cases were reported, significantly higher than the previous monthly high of 3087 in September 2018.

In just one day, the case count increased by 784 on July 24.

Dr. Md. Mouzzam Hossain, a dengue specialist at the Care Medical College Hospital, told Anadolu Agency that the dengue cases have increased in the recent years due to environmental change and lack of awareness. “This year it reaches to epidemic proportions, breaking all past records.”

He urged the government to take the dengue as a topmost priority issue and immediately sit with authorities of all public and private hospitals to jointly handle the crisis.

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Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. Approximately, half of the world’s population is at risk and it affects infants, young children and adults. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.