Amena Begum, 48, from Narayanganj, suffered from a high fever and body ache seven days ago. Her fever did not subside with medication. Tests revealed she had dengue.

When her platelet count dropped to 40,000, her family rushed her to Dhaka. Since 1 July, she has been admitted to the ICU at DNCC Covid‑19 Dedicated Hospital in Mohakhali, run by Dhaka North City Corporation.

This correspondent met Amena’s son, Arnab Mohammad, outside the ICU on the fifth floor of the hospital on Friday afternoon. Arnab said that his mother’s platelet count fell further to 18,000 the day after she was admitted. Arnab and his father, Md Salauddin, have been living at the hospital for the last four days to care for his mother. They sleep on mats on the corridor at night.

Another patient in the ICU is 17‑year‑old Jannatul. Her family was arranging blood for her. Jannatul’s mother, Amena Begum, told Prothom Alo that they live in Shekhertek area in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. She said she and her daughter had gone to her (Amena) in-law’s house in Patuakhali Sadar upazila for a visit on 10 June.

When Jannatul developed a severe fever there on 27 June she had taken her daughter to Patuakhali general hospital the next day. Test confirmed that Jannatul had dengue.