Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
In Bangladesh, dengue fever has killed more than 300 people this year and infected almost 63,700 others, with hospitals having a difficult time keeping up with all of the cases.
This is the deadliest outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease since the government began tracking in 2000. Across Bangladesh, people are being urged to use mosquito nets and kill any mosquito larvae they find.
The World Health Organization said that today, about half of the world's population is at risk of dengue fever, which is more common in tropical and subtropical climates. The most common symptoms are headache, nausea, body aches, fever, and rash, but not everyone who becomes infected reports symptoms. In severe cases, people can experience organ failure and die. Because there isn't a specific treatment for dengue, the protocol is to manage symptoms.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Climate change is causing warmer and wetter weather, and these conditions are perfect for mosquito breeding. WHO official Raman Velayudhan said during a webinar last week that dengue is "a problem linked mostly with climate change, and we need to find ways to mitigate its impacts on every country level." After monsoon season is over in October, he expects to see even more dengue cases in Bangladesh and other Asian countries.
Mushtaq Hossain, senior adviser to Bangladesh's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, agreed, writing in an opinion piece for the Bangladesh Pratidin newspaper that the number of people hospitalized for dengue could keep rising all the way through November. Despite extra beds being put in hospitals, the country is "not adequately prepared to deal with dengue," he said.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'Horror stories of women having to carry nonviable fetuses'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Haiti interim council, prime minister sworn in
Speed Read Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns amid surging gang violence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 26, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - teleprompter troubles, presidential immunity, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Woman accidentally puts nan in washing machine
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 4, 2023
Daily Briefing Erdogan and Putin meet in effort to rejuvenate Ukraine grain deal, Biden heads to Philadelphia for pro-union Labor Day celebration, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 3, 2023
Daily Briefing Biden visits Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson dies at 75, and more
By Justin Klawans Published