Reza Mahmud :
Diarrhoea outbreak is on surge in different areas of the capital in the recent days.
Several thousand patients have been admitted to hospitals after contaminated with the waterborne disease.
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddr,b) Hospital has installed tents outside to meet the end of the medical service required for the extra patients.
Besides, the capital, people from several other districts also are infected.
Public health experts said that drinking of polluted water was the major reason of diarrhoea outbreak.
They said that human bodies required extra water during this hot summer.
Meanwhile, people in the capital used to drink different types of fruit juices, sugarcane juices and other drinks as they feel serious thirsty in this hot weather.
Most of the drinks and juices used to prepare with dirty and polluted water, and people who drank such juices were infected with the diarrhoea.
The outbreak were seen since the first week of this month but increasing number of the patients started to come to the hospitals since the mid of the month.
Official data of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddr,b) Hospital showed that about 50 diarrhoea patients have been admitted in the hospital in every hour.
It said that more than one thousand patients were admitted on Thursday while about 1,233 people were taken there on Wednesday and 1,272 persons were brought on Tuesday.
According to the data, 1057 patients were admitted in the hospital on March 16, while 1,216 on March 20.
It showed that about 10 thousand patients took medical treatment from the hospital in the last two weeks.
The officials of the hospital said that they were passing times with very hardship on giving services to the huge patients in the recent days.
“Patients are coming almost every moment with ambulance and other vehicles. Some of those were coming in beds, several in tents, some people are waiting outside for taking admission. We are under utmost pressure nowadays,” said one of the officials working in admission desk in the hospital.
Hospital officials said that they witnessed such pressure in the month of April 2018. Public health experts expressed concern and asked the government to take necessary measures soon.
When contacted, Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Adviser of the World Health Organization (WHO) told The New Nation on Saturday, “As diarrhoea patients are increasing, the government should take a public health approach of preventing it. We have to be prepared nationally as the diarrhoea is more prevalent in summer in our country.”
The government should look for the causes and have to take necessary actions with public health measures to identify the cause and make people aware with effective communications so that people are aware, the professor added.
He suggested that once infected with diarrhoea oral saline should be taken immediately even with homemade one where oral saline is not available.
Experts said that usually children are vulnerable during such outbreak and need special attention. Children should be brought to hospitals for treatment.
Children should not be treated at home, they suggested.
As per the experts’ suggestions, proper investigations for all patients should be done primarily at Upazilla hospitals and emergency patients should be sent to district and other specialised hospitals if required.
