Staff Reporter :
With a heat wave sweeping across the country, the number of diarrhoea patients continued to rise in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
The number may cross all the previous record this year,doctors fear.
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) and the capital’s other hospitals are flooded with diarrhoea patients since the beginning of April.
The icddr,b treated about 3000 patients mostly from the capital and the adjacent districts since April while it treated about 45,000 patients throughout the year in 2018.
The icddr,b admitted about 1500 diarrhoea patients, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mitford Hospital, Dhaka Shishu Hospital and private hospitals witnessed the unusual flow of diarrhoea patients. Health Services’ Health Emergency Operations Centre and Control Room Duty Officer of the Directorate General Dr Shakhawat Hossain said, the number of patients is increasing day by day. He feared also that the number might exceed this year.
The icddr,b control room records show that over 1,200 diarrhoea patients were admitted into at least 20 district level hospital in April.
Dr Shakhawat Hossain said, the diarrhoea, hepatitis, typhoid and other food and water-borne diseases increase in summer as its humid weather proves suitable for them to spread.
Dr Azharul Islam Khan, Chief Physician and Head of Hospitals at icddr,b, told The New Nation that the unexpected rise of diarrhoea patients was the result of humid weather and poor quality water supply in Dhaka.
He advised people to use safe water only and keep oral rehydration saline at home to provide handy relief to diarrhoea patients.
He also advised the people to strictly avoid stale and uncovered foods and drinks either at home or the waysides.
He said that warm food only should be taken to minimize the risk of diarrhoea infection.
Meanwhile, there will be no relief from the sweltering heat as the temperature may rise further in the next two days, the Met Office said on Thursday.
‘A mild to moderate heat wave is sweeping over the country,’ said Bazlur Rashid, a Meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorology Department, adding, there is possibility of rain on May 12 and 13.
Wednesday’s highest temperature was recorded at 38.8 degrees Celsius in Jashore and Chuadanga. In the capital, the maximum temperature was 35.6 degrees Celsius.
In its forecast, the Met Office said that a mild to moderate heat wave, sweeping over Khulna division and parts of Bangladesh, may continue.
