More than 1,000 people have died from dengue in Bangladesh since the beginning of the year, according to official figures, the worst epidemic of this disease in the country’s history. In detail, 1,006 people have died since the beginning of the year, among 200,000 confirmed cases, according to the ministry. of Health of the eighth most populous country in the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) deployed experts on the ground and is helping authorities to strengthen surveillance, increase laboratory capacity and improve communication with affected communities, it said at the beginning of the month.
The former director of the Bangladeshi Health Services, Be-Nazir Ahmed, assured that the number of deaths is higher than in all previous years combined since 2000. “This is a health event of great magnitude, both in Bangladesh and in the world,” he told AFP. Bangladesh has recorded cases of dengue since the 1960s, but in 2000 it suffered its first epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever.
Read more: Lula left the hospital ahead of schedule
Dengue is a disease endemic to tropical areas that causes high fever, vomiting, nausea, headaches and, in more serious cases, hemorrhages that can lead to death. Among those who died this year there are 112 children under 15 years of age, according to official figures. The total number of deaths far exceeds the 2022 record of 281 deaths.
Scientists attributed the epidemic to erratic rainfall and warmer temperatures during the monsoon season, from July to September, which created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes. The virus that causes the disease is now endemic in Bangladesh, where epidemics have been increasing since the beginning of the century.
Also read: Nobel Prize in Medicine for vaccine against covid
Most cases occur during the monsoon, when most of the country’s annual rainfall occurs, but hospitals have been admitting patients in the winter for years. Dengue and other diseases caused by viruses transmitted by mosquitoes are spreading more and more quickly due to climate change, the WHO warned.
According to Abdi Mahamud, director of alert and response at the agency, a combination of factors, including climate change and the El Niño phenomenon, contributed to the appearance of serious dengue epidemics in regions of the world such as Bangladesh, South America and countries in Africa. Sub-Saharan.
Fuente: AFP.
2023-10-06 18:50:14
#Nación #Vaccine #dengue #recommends #application #avoid #cases
