DHAKA — Dengue has killed 418 people in Bangladesh so far this year, more than the 413 deaths recorded in all of 2025, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Hospitals had admitted 133,367 dengue patients by October 30.
October was the deadliest month of the outbreak, with 173 deaths, up from 148 in September. In the 24 hours covered by the health directorate’s latest daily report, three more people died and 1,262 patients were admitted to hospital.
Hospitals under pressure
Doctors say many patients are reaching hospital only after severe complications set in. At the state-run Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, 279 dengue patients were being treated after 67 new admissions in a single day, its director, Mirza Golam Sarwar, said.
“We are getting many patients in shock. Their blood pressure is sometimes too low to measure, and their oxygen levels are dropping,” he said.
Medicine specialist ABM Abdullah said repeat infections, together with delays in diagnosis and treatment, are driving the severe cases and deaths. A person infected a second time, with a different type of the virus, can face a greater risk of serious illness. All four types of dengue are now circulating in Bangladesh, health experts say.
He urged people to remove mosquito breeding sites and to seek care as soon as symptoms appear.
Unlikely to ease before December
Entomologist Kabirul Bashar of Jahangirnagar University said deaths were unlikely to keep rising at October’s pace, but infections would probably stay widespread through November. “We may see some relief, but dengue is unlikely to disappear in November. Any decline is likely to be modest, with significant improvement unlikely before December,” he said.
He said changing rainfall and humidity patterns are extending the mosquito breeding season, keeping Aedes mosquitoes active for longer.
Bangladesh has not yet introduced a dengue vaccine. Authorities are considering one as a longer-term measure.
A second outbreak at the same time
The dengue surge comes while Bangladesh is also battling a measles outbreak that has killed more than 1,200 people, adding strain to an already stretched health system. The two are separate illnesses, spread in different ways. Zark News has reported on the measles outbreak separately.
Dengue is a virus spread by Aedes mosquitoes, which breed in standing water in and around homes. There is no specific cure. Treatment focuses on fluids and rest, and on watching for warning signs such as severe stomach pain, repeated vomiting and bleeding.
Sources: Directorate General of Health Services figures reported by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha; Reuters reporting from Dhaka.
