The most recent wave of Covid-19 cases in the South Asian subcontinent are trickier to negotiate because of an increase in dengue, a mosquito-transmitted virus. The spike in dengue cases is worsening the load of hospitals that are already over-burdened. For instance Sri Lanka reported more than 17,000 cases this year; Bangladesh reports about 4,500 cases of hospitalisation for dengue this year. Looking after dengue patients is hard work.
The WHO reports that there are hundreds of millions of dengue infections every year, and nearly two-thirds occur in Asia. Not only is there no particular treatment for the virus, should diagnosis not be done on time, fatality is a likely outcome.
Some hospitals in the region admit they have to turn dengue patients away.

Dengue occurrence also remains common in Nepal and Pakistan. In Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, representatives informed that the major hospital for dengue patients previously had been turned into a Covid hospital. Even the government lab where suspected dengue cases were referred to for testing is also over-burdened by coronavirus tests, they added.