When eight-year-old Samin developed a fever a few days ago, his parents thought it was the seasonal flu. However, in two days, his condition worsened as he began to complain of abdomen pain, fatigue and vomiting. “We saw a drastic change in him. Our once agile child became pale and listless,” said Samin’s father Rahmatullah, from the middle-income dominated and densely populated Mirpur area in Dhaka. Worried and anxious, he took Samin to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, where they found that Samin had contracted dengue and his platelet count had dropped to 40,000 against the healthy count of 150,000 to 400,000 platelets. Samin was admitted to the hospital, but his condition continued to deteriorate as his blood pressure fell, prompting doctors to transfer him to the intensive care unit. Rahmatullah said they were wondering why, despite their best efforts to keep dengue away, Samin caught the disease. They applied sprays, used mosquito nets while sleeping, kept their house clean and drained the potential breeding sources in their home — the usual cautions that authorities have always prescribed to keep the dengue viral carriers, Aedes mosquitoes, away. Samin is among a record 80,000 people who have fallen ill with dengue in Bangladesh this year so far — a surge that scientists say could be fueled by climate change. An influx of patients has overwhelmed the hospitals in Bangladesh, especially its capital — a reminder of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Aedes aegypti mosquito thrives in rainy, tropical climates…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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