Since the beginning of the year through Oct. 15, Bangladesh has reported 7,450 dengue fever cases and at least 17 fatalities, according to the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR).

Dhaka
Bangladesh
Image/CIA

This is a record for the number of dengue cases in a year. The previous highest was 6,232 in 2002.

The number of dengue cases has recently been on the rise due to various reasons, including a lack of awareness, and doctors say most of this year’s dengue patients are children as their immune system is weak compared to adults.

In the capital of Dhaka, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon said they had started their drive against Aedes mosquitoes early this year and destroyed around 50,000 “risky” containers from different households across DSCC areas.

“We gave our best to control the Aedes mosquito and will continue the drive,” he said, adding their drive included running awareness campaigns.

The pattern of dengue virus this year has been a little different from the previous years and that they were trying to know more about it from the experts, he said.

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Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There are four closely related but antigenically different serotypes of the virus that can cause dengue (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).

  • Dengue Fever (DF) – marked by an onset of sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and pain in muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degree of bleeding from various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising).Dengue has a wide spectrum of infection outcome (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness can vary from dengue fever (DF) to the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
  • Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) – is a more severe form, seen only in a small proportion of those infected. DHF is a stereotypic illness characterized by 3 phases; febrile phase with high continuous fever usually lasting for less than 7 days; critical phase (plasma leaking) lasting 1-2 days usually apparent when fever comes down, leading to shock if not detected and treated early; convalescence phase lasting 2-5 days with improvement of appetite, bradycardia (slow heart rate), convalescent rash (white patches in red background), often accompanied by generalized itching (more intense in palms and soles), and diuresis (increase urine output).
  • Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) — Shock syndrome is a dangerous complication of dengue infection and is associated with high mortality. Severe dengue occurs as a result of secondary infection with a different virus serotype. Increased vascular permeability, together with myocardial dysfunction and dehydration, contribute to the development of shock, with resultant multiorgan failure.

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