DHAKA  -   Ban­gladesh is battling its worst outbreak of dengue in years, with more than 400 deaths as rising temperatures and a longer monsoon season drive a surge in infections, leaving hospitals struggling to cope, particularly in urban areas. At least 407 people have died from related complications in 2024, with 78,595 patients admitted to hospital nation­wide, the latest official fig­ures show. By mid-November, 4,173 patients were being treated, with 1,835 of them in Dhaka, the capital, and 2,338 elsewhere. “We’re witnessing monsoon-like rainfall even in October, which is unusual,” said Kabirul Bashar, a zoolo­gy professor at Jahangirnagar University. Shifting weather patterns caused by climate change provided optimal con­ditions for the Aedes aegyp­ti mosquito, the primary car­rier of the disease, he added. “These changes in the sea­son are fostering ideal con­ditions for the mosquitoes to breed.” Dense populations in cities exacerbate the spread of the disease, usually more common in the monsoon sea­son from June to September though it has spilled beyond that window this year.