Diarrhoea patients at ICDDR,B in Dhaka hit record

Bangladesh is experiencing an unusual outbreak of diarrhoea in the pre-monsoon season with a record number of patients rushing to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) for treatment. A record of 1,272 patients was admitted to the hospital in a single day on Tuesday. Earlier on March 16, a total of 1,057 patients were admitted to the hospital. The hospital data showed that on March 20 a total of 1,157 patients were admitted and the figure jumped to 1,216 on March 21. Pre-monsoon outbreak normally starts at the end of March and ends in May, mostly affecting adult people. The post-monsoon diarrhoeal disease mostly affects children in winter. The ICDDR,B hospital is flooded with patients, mostly from the capital’s Jatrabari, Lalbagh, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Motijheel, Ramna, Uttara, and Tejgaon areas. The number of patients is also increasing in the outskirts of Dhaka and many other districts.
To tackle the rising number of patients’ ICDDR,B set up a 90-bed in its compound. As the number of patients increased, the authorities were seen preparing to set up another tent with 60 beds in its compound. Several patients at the hospital said they rushed to the hospital after they had vomited and suffered from acute loose motion. Public health experts said that high temperature in summer facilitates the rapid growth of the water-borne bacteria, viruses, or parasites in food and drink items and their consumption causes diarrhoea. Diarrhoea was once one of the deadly diseases in Bangladesh but with ICDDR,B inventing oral saline the country showed huge success in tackling the disease. It is mainly a water-borne disease. People should be more careful about drinking and eating to prevent this disease.
Usually, diarrhoea is a self-remitting disease. Patients in most cases need no medicine but rehydrating is very important. People are advised to wash their hands, take enough safe water and food to avoid the disease. To prevent it, WHO suggests access to safe drinking water, use of improved sanitation, handwashing with soap, and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and good personal and food hygiene.