Bangladesh struggles to cope with Dengue outbreak with shortage of testing kits

A shortage of the NS1 kit for dengue testing is reported from hospitals and private diagnostic centres in Dhaka.

A shortage of the NS1 kit for Dengue testing is reported from hospitals and private diagnostic centres in Dhaka.

According to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) govt had imported 40 thousand NS1 kits this year which is proving inadequate to meet the spiralling demand.

Another 50 thousand kits are being imported on an emergency basis. WHO is also expected to provide 1 lakh NS1 kits for dengue testing to the government of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is struggling to cope with an unprecedented outbreak of Dengue across the country with more than 17,000 people being infected with the virus this year.

According to latest reports Dengue has now been reported from all the districts of Bangladesh.

Official figures put the death toll at 14 though reports indicate that more than 40 people have died due to Dengue in various parts of the country.