Dengue wave

Patients with dengue fever are treated in hospitals in Bangladesh. Mahmud Hossain Opu / AP  

 

Dengue wave

WHO: Climate change causes faster spread of infection  

 

Dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases are spreading faster and over larger areas due to climate change, according to the WHO, according to AFP. In Bangladesh, more than 1,000 people have died from dengue fever this year, and researchers point to irregular rains and high temperatures as the reasons behind the high death toll. The weather has favored the breeding of mosquitoes.  

 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, has previously flagged that the dengue outbreak in Bangladesh caused "enormous pressure on the healthcare system" in the country.  

 

The number of people who have died from dengue fever in Bangladesh this year is the highest ever recorded.  

 

A child with dengue is being cared for in a hospital in Bangladesh. Mahmud Hossain Opu / AP  

 

Worst dengue outbreak in Bangladesh – 1,000 dead  

 

More than 1,000 people have died of dengue fever in Bangladesh since the turn of the year, AFP reports. It is the highest recorded death toll in a single outbreak in the country ever. 

 

According to the country's authorities, 1,006 people have died. More than 200,000 cases of infection have been confirmed.  

 

The number of deaths since the turn of the year is more than all previous years combined since 2000.  

 

- It is a huge health event, both for the world and for Bangladesh, says Be-Nazir Ahmed, former head of a department under the country's health authority.