Dengue claims 2 more lives

Two more people died after contracting dengue in Khulna and Barishal yesterday.

In Khulna, deceased Md Abdur Rouf, 35, of Radhanagar village in Bagharpara upazila of Jashore had been suffering from fever for the last few days. He was undergoing treatment at Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH).

Rouf was admitted there on Monday evening in critical condition, said Partha Pratim Debnath, assistant registrar of the medicine department at KMCH. He died of dengue shock syndrome around 5am at the hospital, he said.

Atiar Rahman Sheikh, assistant civil surgeon of Khulna, told The Daily Star that 15 people including nine women died of dengue in Khulna. Of them, 12 died in KMCH.

In Barishal, Syeda Baru Bibi, 60, of Sadar upazila in Patuakhali died at Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in the afternoon.

Dr Bakir Hossain, director of the hospital, said Syeda was admitted to the dengue ward on Monday. She died at 2:20pm while undergoing treatment, he added. So far, 10 dengue patients have died in the hospital since July 16, he added.

With Rouf and Syeda, 155 people have so far died this year after being infected with the mosquito-borne disease, according to sources at different hospitals.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), however, has so far confirmed 75 deaths from dengue. A total of 469 dengue patients were admitted to the hospitals in the last 24 hours till 8am yesterday, of which 338 were outside Dhaka.

The DGHS data shows that a total of 85,757 people were admitted to hospitals across the country this year, of which 46,415 were in Dhaka.

The number of current dengue patients undergoing treatment is 1,928, of whom 1,150 are outside the capital.