“We are going to publish the findings of the death review soon,” DGHS director (disease control) Sheikh Daoud Adnan told Prothom Alo.
Last year, there were 980 dengue deaths in Dhaka city and 725 deaths outside the capital. According to DGHS sources, data of 94 patients was collected from different hospitals in Dhaka to conduct the death review, but public health experts believe that more data should be collected on patients outside Dhaka.
“We have heard that many patients in Dhaka are suffering from dengue for the second or third time and they will have a higher mortality rate, but the situation outside Dhaka is different,” public health expert Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed told Prothom Alo. There is a shortage of experienced doctors and necessary equipment.”
“Also, there are many problems while transferring patients to Dhaka. The cause of death can be known after the death is reviewed. We can know whether the patients had dengue earlier or they reached the hospital recently. Which organs of the patients were damaged and whether the fluid management was correct. If we had known about these issues, some people would have been affected by the changes in management. Lives could have been saved.”
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Hasnul Banna
