According to the National Dengue Control Unit, more than 70,000 dengue patients have been reported so far this year.

Of these, 215 have died.

The highest number of cases of dengue has been reported from the Western Province.

The National Hospital for Infectious Diseases (FIH) is one of the leading hospitals in Colombo District for the treatment of dengue patients.

Due to the high number of patients, the hospital had to discontinue its admissions a few weeks ago.

The BBC Sinhala Service visited the hospital to see how its patients were treated.

"Today, gentlemen are few and far between. Yesterday was a little less than last week, but there is no shortage," a hospital security official commented upon entering the hospital.

"225 beds, 700 patients."

Nearly a hundred people were queuing up to enter the hospital.

"The hospital has only 225 beds, but now there are about 700 people treated, there were over 800 last week, and about 150 were admitted yesterday," said a health official who is in the process of enrolling patients.

"One patient is admitted to the ward and there are four when they come back," said a Civil Defense Force member attached to the hospital.

Thirty Civil Defense Force personnel including him have been attached to the hospital for several months now.

Although the nurses said that the congestion in the wards was somewhat reduced, there were still two patients on one bed.

"Some of the beds have three, today is fine, but not too low. Only 9 people were admitted last night," said one nurse.

Medical Advice

Dengue: medical advice

Some patients sat on the floor in front of the wards until they got a bed. In the meantime, some were seen leaving the treatment.

"It's been good for 5 days now. I have another one in my bed. I have been treated well in the hospital," said Kasun, 23, who was leaving for treatment.

"The first thing I do at home is to clean the floor, because the mosquitoes have been suffering for two weeks," he said.

According to Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, an expert at the National Infectious Diseases Institute, there is an increased risk of dengue in the next few weeks.

"We expect an increase in the number of dengue patients due to the frequent rains. Therefore, we are all at risk."

He said that frequent rains, inadequate disposal of garbage in some places and variation of the dengue virus have caused the dengue epidemic.

Paracetamol

"Do not take any medication for fever or pain other than paracetamol. A blood test should be carried out within 48 hours after the fever develops. The test results are normal, but the test should be repeated within 24 hours.

According to Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, an expert in the National Infectious Diseases Unit, dengue deaths are caused by not following these procedures properly.

The doctor explained the importance of the blood test, saying "painkillers cause complications. The other condition is that doctors take blood tests and stay home because the fever has gone away, making the condition worse."

He pointed out that even if the fever had subsided for a few days, it could have caused the dengue.

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, the expert who pointed out that dengue mosquito bites often occur between 06.00 - 09.09 am and 03.00 - 06:00 pm, can be found at other times of the day or night. It is said that.