Possible Drivers of the 2019 Dengue Outbreak in Bangladesh: The Need for a Robust Community-Level Surveillance System

Bangladesh experienced its largest dengue virus (DENV) outbreak in 2019, with 101,354 patients admitted to hospital with either laboratory confirmed or clinical diagnosis. By contrast, the cumulative number of dengue patients admitted to hospitals in the previous 19 years (2000-2018) was 50,674 (Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research 2019). Herein, we discuss the potential drivers contributing to the unprecedented 2019 DENV outbreak in Bangladesh.