Bangladesh records over 500 deaths this year

Dhaka, Aug 24 (IANS) Over 500 dengue deaths have been recorded in Bangladesh this year as the South Asian country grapples with a record outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease this year, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

At least 13 more people died from dengue in the 24 hours preceding 8:00 a.m. local time Wednesday in Bangladesh, Xinhua news agency reported quoting data from DGHS.

Also, 2,070 dengue patients were hospitalised in the 24-hour period Wednesday, the DGHS said.

Dengue has so far claimed at least 506 lives this year and 106,429 were infected, making this the deadliest year since the first recorded epidemic in Bangladesh in 2000.

During the first 23 days in August, according to the figure reported by the DGHS under the Ministry of Health, 54,597 more dengue cases were recorded in the country after 43,854 people were infected with the mosquito-borne disease last month.

According to DGHS data, a total of 98,098 patients have so far been released from hospitals across the country this year.