Eight more people have died of dengue and 1,432 new patients have been hospitalised across Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, after the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) corrected a discrepancy in its earlier death data from Khulna.
The Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room of the DGHS released the updated figures on Saturda
The revised central data followed an earlier report that showed fewer deaths due to a mismatch between figures from the Khulna Divisional Health Directorate and the DGHS records.
According to the corrected DGHS data, the eight deaths include one in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), two in Dhaka division outside city corporation areas and five in Khulna division outside city corporation areas.
The initial central report issued on Saturday recorded three deaths nationwide in the previous 24 hours and did not include any deaths from Khulna division. However, a report from the Office of the Khulna Divisional Director of Health showed five dengue deaths in the division during the same period.
Dr Md Showkat Ali, deputy civil surgeon at office, said five people had died of dengue in Khulna in the last 24 hours. He said the death list was prepared based on information available at the civil surgeon’s office before being sent to the DGHS.
According to the Civil Surgeon’s Office, one death occurred at Khulna Medical College Hospital, one at Khulna Specialised Hospital, two at Khulna City Medical College Hospital and one at Khulna Ad-Din Hospital.
Dr SM Shahriar, assistant director (Administration) of the Khulna divisional health directorate, said death data collected from the Civil Surgeon’s Office is verified before being sent to Dhaka.
He added that discussions with data entry staff confirmed the five deaths recorded in the previous 24 hours.
A discrepancy was also found in hospital admission figures. While the corrected DGHS report showed 241 new dengue admissions in Khulna. The Khulna Divisional Health Directorate reported 276 cases during the period.
Dr Abu Ahammad Al Mamun, director (MIS) at the DGHS, said he was not aware of any data error but would look into the matter. The DGHS later issued a corrected media release.
The revised statement said that among the 1,432 new patients admitted in the past 24 hours, 894 were men (62.4 per cent) and 538 were women (37.6 per cent).
Dhaka division outside city corporation areas recorded the highest number of new admissions with 280 patients, followed by Khulna division with 241, Chattogram division with 209 and Barishal division with 204.
Dhaka North City Corporation recorded 106 new admissions, while Dhaka South City Corporation reported 170.
From 1 January to 26 September this year, the total number of dengue cases in Bangladesh reached 71,536, including 44,516 men and 26,779 women.
The disease has claimed 219 lives during the period, including 116 women and 102 men. Dhaka South City Corporation recorded the highest number of deaths with 66, followed by Khulna division with 42.
September has been the deadliest month for dengue this year, with 35,690 cases and 122 deaths reported so far.
The DGHS said 66,251 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals this year. Of them, 1,424 were discharged in the past 24 hours.
Currently, 5,066 dengue patients are undergoing treatment at government and private hospitals across the country.
