Dengue fever 69 thousand cases in Bangladesh. WHO: “An unusual wave”

A total of 69,483 cases of dengue fever, laboratory confirmed cases, and 327 related deaths in just over 6 months – from January 1 to August 7 – in Bangladesh. This is the epidemic reported by the World Health Organization in a report it published today. In recent days, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed on Twitter “Concern about the increase in dengue cases throughout Southeast Asia, especially in Bangladesh, Partly because of the climate crisis“.

The WHO warning shows that 63% of cases and 62% of deaths were reported in July. Although dengue is endemic in Bangladesh, the UN health agency notes that “the current wave is unusual in terms of seasonality”. Even the lethality rate (estimated at 0.47% this year)Relatively high compared to previous yearsWHO added that the pre-monsoon survey on Aedes “shows that the density of mosquitoes and the number of potential hot spots” for these insects “has reached the highest level in the past five years”.

The analysis continues that there was an increase in the incidence of dengue “in the context of an extraordinary amount of rain, combined with high temperatures and high humidity, which led to an increase in the number of mosquitoes throughout Bangladesh.” DJ Tedros explained that WHO teams are “now assisting the Government of Bangladesh with diagnostic kits, training in clinical care, community participation and surveillance”.