ICDDR,B Hospital: 502 Diarrhea Patients Admitted in 12Hrs

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) Mohakhali Hospital has admitted 502 diarrhea patients in 12 hours.

The ICDDR,B authorities confirmed that the patients were admitted to the hospital from 12 noon on Wednesday to 12 noon on Thursday.

In the previous 24 hours (March 23), 1,233 diarrhea patients were admitted to the same hospital.

According to the ICDDR,B authorities, there is a huge pressure on the hospital for diarrhea patients. ICDDR,B doctors, nurses and health workers are struggling to cope with the pressure of so many patients. However, all treatments are free.

There are more diarrhea patients than hospital beds. So ICDDR,B was coming to treat the diarrhea patient by pitching a tent outside before giving place to the patients. Now the hospital has been enlarged by pitching another tent outside.

ICDDR,B authorities say 23 percent of hospital admissions are now for acute diarrhea or cholera.

Outbreaks of diarrhea have been reported in and around Dhaka city. ICDDR,B says it has not seen so many patient pressures in the organization's 60-year history.

According to ICDDR,B sources, 400 to 500 diarrhea patients come to the hospital daily for treatment throughout the year. The number of patients increases somewhat before the onset of the monsoon season. The number of patients usually starts increasing in the last week of March. From mid-April to the last week the patient finally grows. But this year there are exceptions.

According to the ICDDR,B authorities, about 500 patients come daily in the first week of March this year. In the second week, the number of patients increased by six hundred daily. From March 17, more than one thousand patients are admitted every day. On March 21, 1,216 patients were admitted. On March 23, 1,233 diarrhea patients were admitted.

ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer of the government's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), advised that water should be boiled or purified with tablets. Food should not be eaten without washing hands. He also advised to avoid eating street food and stale food.