Bangladesh Experiences Worst Dengue Fever Outbreak, 1,000 People Died Since The Beginning Of The Year

Spraying to eradicate Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. (Project Manhatan/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA-3.0)

JAKARTA - Bangladesh is experiencing the worst dengue fever outbreak ever recorded in the country, where more than 1,000 people have died according to official data, exacerbated by rising temperatures due to the climate crisis.

About 1,017 people have died from the disease since January 2023, including more than children, while the total number of patients has reached 208,000 according to data from the Directorate General of Health Services Bangladesh released on Monday.

Although dengue fever is an endemic disease in the country, with infections typically peaking in the rainy season between July and September, this year the increase in cases occurred much earlier, namely towards the end of April.

The prolonged rainy season with warmer temperatures coupled with heavy and irregular rainfall creates ideal breeding conditions for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the carrier of dengue fever, scientists said.

The surge in dengue fever patients weighed on health services, causing hospitals to lack beds and staff to treat patients, according to local media.

The death toll as far as tofu is also nearly four times higher than last year, where 281 patients died. Last month alone, there were more than 79,600 reported cases and 396 deaths, according to Bangladeshi health authorities.

There are also growing concerns about this outbreak that will spread to colder months. Last year, dengue fever cases only peaked in October with the most deaths recorded in November.

Dengue fever itself is an endemic disease in more than 100 countries and each year, 100 million to 400 million people are infected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference last month his party supported the government and Bangladeshi authorities "to strengthen surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical management, vector control, public risk communication and engagement" during the outbreak.

The WHO says the number of cases of global hemorrhagic fever has increased eightfold in the last two decades.