Three persons, including two children, reportedly died of dengue in Dhaka, Khulna and Laxmipur on Monday night and early Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Parash, 4, son of Kamruzzaman of Daspara area in Kamalnagar upazila; Rasel, 32, of Gopalganj; and Samia, 8, of Dhaka.
Parash died on Monday night while he was being taken to Noakhali General Hospital. His uncle Md Ibrahim said his nephew was diagnosed with dengue on Saturday morning.
Dr Morshed Alam Hiru, child specialist of Laxmipur Sadar Hospital, said he suggested the guardians to shift the boy to Noakhali General Hospital. “He died around 10pm while being taken there,” Hiru said.
Over 148 dengue patients were admitted to Laxmipur Sadar Hospital in the last 18 days till Monday noon.
Meanwhile, Rasel died at Khulna Medical College Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday. Khulna Civil Surgeon Abdur Razzak said Rasel was hospitalised with dengue two days ago.
In Dhaka, eight-year-old Samia died of dengue at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (ShSMC) early Tuesday.
Professor Dr Uttam Kumar Barua, director of the hospital, said Samia was admitted to ShSMC on August 10 where she died at 6:30am on Tuesday.
Currently, 407 dengue patients are being treated at the hospital. 165 of them are children. Two other patients are at the ICU.
Bangladesh is struggling to control its worst outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease as an increasing number of patients put tremendous pressure on the country’s already overwhelmed medical system.
At least 1,200 new dengue patients were admitted to hospitals in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, the government said. During the same period on Monday, 2,093 patients were hospitalised.
Since January, 43,271 people were admitted to hospitals, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Of them, 35,225 made complete recovery. Currently, more than 8,000 patients, including children, are undergoing treatment at various hospitals.
The government has so far confirmed 40 deaths although the unofficial estimates suggest the death toll is much higher.–UNB, Dhaka.
