Why is dengue deadlier this year?

Early detection, immediate hospitalisation can significantly lower dengue deaths.

HM Nazmul Ahsan Associate professor of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College

Experts say multiple exposures to dengue, late admission to hospitals and late diagnosis of the disease are the main reasons behind  the high number of dengue deaths this year.

With the 685 new dengue cases yesterday, the total number of dengue cases crossed 51,000, while the death toll has risen to 217, with one new death.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the total number cases is now 51,444, of which 18,092 have been recorded outside Dhaka.

When there were more than one lakh reported cases of dengue in the country in 2019, the death toll was 179. But this year, deaths have crossed that number, even though cases are around half of what was recorded three years ago.

A recent analysis of patient data by DGHS has revealed that the dengue infection rate is the highest among people aged over 20, while the death rate is high among patients aged between 40 and 80.

It also showed that most dengue patients who have died at hospitals breathed their last within three days of being admitted.

There are four distinct serotypes (distinct variants within a species of bacteria or virus) of dengue virus -- DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4.

"For the first time, researchers this year detected the presence of DENV-4. We now know that DENV-1, DENV-3 and DENV-4 are now active in Bangladesh," said Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), recently.

Entomologists said multiple serotypes not only caused the rise in dengue cases but also turned the patients' conditions severe.

HM Nazmul Ahsan, associate professor at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, said the risk of fatalities increase if an individual previously infected with one serotype gets infected with a different one.

He said patients who are coming to the facility have mostly faced multiple exposures, meaning that they were infected by another serotype earlier.

"Early detection, immediate hospitalisation can significantly lower dengue deaths. Late admission is another reason behind high number of deaths this year," Nazmul said.

"Many hospitals or clinics, especially private ones, don't follow guidelines on fluid management, another reason for the increase in deaths," he said.

 To fight the disease, Tahmina  suggested taking sufficient fluids in any form like oral saline, fruit juice and coconut water.

Patients need to be hospitalised when they feel like vomiting, pain in the stomach, have breathing issues or bleed from any part of their body, she advised.