In Bangladesh, over 1,000 people have died from dengue fever this year, making it the worst outbreak of this disease ever recorded in the country.
Dengue is an illness found in tropical areas. It brings high fevers, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and, in severe cases, bleeding that can be deadly.
The World Health Organization has warned that dengue and other diseases spread by mosquitoes, like chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika, are spreading faster and farther because of climate change.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services in Bangladesh, as of Sunday night, there have been 1,006 deaths and over 200,000 confirmed dengue cases.
The number of deaths this year is higher than all the years combined since 2000. This is a major health crisis in both Bangladesh and the world. Among the dead, 112 were children under 15, including babies. This year’s numbers are much higher than the previous record in 2022 when there were 281 deaths.
Scientists say irregular rainfall and hotter temperatures during the monsoon season created ideal conditions for mosquitoes, leading to this outbreak. Dengue has been in Bangladesh since the 1960s, but the first outbreak of severe and sometimes deadly dengue haemorrhagic fever was in 2000. The virus causing the disease is now common in Bangladesh, and outbreaks have been getting worse since the early 2000s.