Many hospitals have been struggling with rising number of diarrhoea patients across the country since last week. The hospital authorities are reporting that with the arrival of summer, the number of diarrhoea patients in capital Dhaka, other metropolitan cities, district towns and upazila headquarters are on the sharp rise.
Diarrhoea is the common waterborne and worm-related disease in our country and many people here die due to this disease every year. Adults, elderly people and children are equally being affected by diarrhoea. Among the patients, children are the most vulnerable to viral infections during the transition period.
In capital Dhaka, a total of 8,152 diarrhoea patients were admitted to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in the last seven day. Icddr,b in capital Dhaka has been struggling to cope with the record number of diarrhoea patients for the last one week. A large number of diarrhea patients were admitted to icddr,b on a daily basis in April in 2018 and the diarrhoea had taken an epidemic turn and continued till mid May that year. Every day, over 1,000 patients had been admitted during that year. But this year, the figure has risen to around 1,200.
Proper sanitation and hygiene practices such as
washing hands properly after visiting toilets
or before and after meals are important to reduce the spread of
worm-related diseases
As the average number continued exceeding 1000-mark from March 17, patients are being treated by setting up tents on the icddr,b hospital premises to cope with the extra rush. Diarrhoeal diseases usually break out across country as temperatures soar and sources of safe drinking water dry up.
Proper sanitation and hygiene practices such as washing hands properly after visiting toilets or before and after meals are important to reduce the spread of worm-related diseases. Apart from these, people in both urban and rural area must drink pure water and avoid roadside food to keep them protected from the disease.
Our children are particularly prone to weather change as a little fluctuation in temperature can cause several problems in their system leading to fever, cough, dehydration and diarrhoea. As heat wave may sweep the country in coming days, it may leave the risks of many waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery. So, first of all, all should boil their drinking water, wash their hands with soap before and after they take food, wash their hands after using toilet, should not put their trash here and there as preventive measures against diarrhoea.