The capital of Bangladesh is reporting an increase in dengue fever as June came to an end, a trend they have seen for the past 10 years. For the first six months of the year, 286 dengue fever cases have been reported in Dhaka, with more than half recorded in June alone (145).

Dhaka
Bangladesh
Image/CIA

These numbers are higher than recent years, including 2015 when Dhaka reported the most cases in a decade.

According to monthly trends over the past decade, the city starts to see a spike in dengue infections starting in July, which tapers off around the month of October.

The World Health Organization says dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing 3-14 days after the infective bite.

Dengue is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There is no vaccine or any specific medicine to treat dengue. People who have dengue fever should rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever using paracetamol or see a doctor.

Severe dengue (also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever) is characterized by fever, abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding and breathing difficulty and is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by trained physicians and nurses increase survival of patients.

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