Bangladesh death toll from dengue rises, unlikely to ease before December

Reuters
Oct 31, 2026

Bangladesh death toll from dengue rises, unlikely to ease before December


Bangladesh recorded its highest monthly dengue death toll of the year in October, with experts warning the outbreak is unlikely to ease significantly before December.
 
The outbreak has killed 418 people and led to ​more than 133,000 hospital admissions this year as of October 30, according to health ministry ‌data. October alone accounted for 173 deaths, surpassing September's 148 and making it the deadliest month of 2026 so far.
 
The surge comes as Bangladesh is also battling the world's worst measles outbreak, which has killed more than 1,200 people, placing additional strain on an already stretched ​healthcare system.

HOSPITALS UNDER PRESSURE

Doctors said many dengue patients were only seeking hospital admission after developing severe ​complications. 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, hospital 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.