A record number of 1,717 people infected by dengue fever were hospitalised across the country in the last 24 hours till 8am on Thursday (August 1) showing a gradual rise in the number of such patients over the last several days.
Around 1,147 patient admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 562 patients admitted in hospitals outside of the Capital.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the number of dengue patients was 1,475 on Wednesday (July 31).
Health Ministry Control Room In-Charge Ayesha Siddiqa told Barta24.com, “The dengue has now spread to 63 districts of the country.”
“Dengue fever patients found in all districts. However, no reports yet to find from Netrokona district according to Thursday’s record,” She added.
The High Court directed the government to monitor if private hospitals and diagnostic centres were charging patients more than the government-set fees for dengue tests.
A “ministerial monitoring cell” has been formed to assess the situation and it will receive complaints about any irregularities in treatment and violation of the government order to charge Tk500 for dengue tests in private hospitals, clinics.
The Dengue fever test is completely out of fees in government hospitals, institutes.
Mobile courts found irregularities at Ibn Sina and Popular Diagnostic Centre in Dhanmondi Tk 50,000 each.
Health experts fear an epidemic across the country may take place as the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the carrier of the virus, is prevalent almost everywhere in the country.
Dengue, a mosquito-borne virus, spreads among humans when an infected Aedes mosquito bites them. It has no known cure or vaccine yet.