KUALA LUMPUR, August 14 — At least 40 individuals have died from dengue fever in the worst-ever epidemic in Bangladesh, authorities said yesterday.
Dengue outbreaks generally happen in the South Asian country during the monsoon season between June and September, but has been rampant this year, AFP reported.
More than 44,000 individuals, including 2,100 on Monday alone, have been hospitalised for dengue fever since January, said Ayesha Akhter from Bangladesh’s health ministry.
“We have confirmed 40 dengue-related casualties so far to Monday,” she told AFP.
There has also been concerns that the mosquito-borne viral infection will spread further during the week-long Aidiladha holiday, when hundreds of thousands of people leave Bangladeshi cities to return to their family homes in the countryside.
For the first time, public health workers have to skip their holidays to help respond to the dengue crisis, said health ministry director general Abul Kalam Azad.
“It is getting very tough to cope up with the amount of work pressure,” one medical officer told AFP.
