icddr,b records 8,500 cases of diarrhoea over a week in an unforeseen spike

An alarming uptick in diarrhoea cases has become a cause for concern for cholera hospital at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, bdnews24.com reports.

As many as 8,500 patients streamed into the hospital with diarrhoea over the past seven days, which took the daily caseload to over 1,200 as the scorching summer heat kicked in.

Until 6 in the evening, the hospital registered 992 patients on Monday as well.

The icddr,b says diarrhoea cases go up every two years, but the spike this year is unprecedented. Physicians say people consuming unhealthy food and water outdoors without proper awareness is causing the issue.

They advise people to avoid eating unhygienic food from outside and stay clean to avert the health crisis.

Zinnat Ara, a resident of Mirpur 11, has been struggling with stomachache and diarrhoea since Mar 26 and got admitted to the hospital as her condition deteriorated fast.

“I’d some Puri and Singara that evening and later skipped dinner. I was brought here at 11pm Saturday… The hospital released me on Sunday evening but diarrhoea returned at night after reaching home, so I was admitted here again,” Zinnat said.

A resident of Shewrapara, garment worker Labonya, who gave a single name, got admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning. She could not figure out why her stomach gave in.

“I didn’t eat anything outside. I always boil the water before drinking and the office provides filtered water as well. I’ve no idea how it happened.”

Kazim Uddin, who resides in Uttara’s House Building area, admitted both his wife and daughter to the hospital. The mother is under care in a ward while the girl is being treated at a make-shift ward in a tent.

Kazim ping-pongs between the two places to keep watch on them, both of whom fell ill on the night of Mar 26.

“They had rice and lentils at home, nothing was stale. I brought in my wife on Sunday morning as her condition worsened before also admitting my daughter who wasn’t doing any better.”

Al Amin from Mohammadpur admitted his wife and 6-year-old son “Siam” to icddr,b.

“They can’t stop going to the toilet… I gave them medicines and saline, but nothing worked. The child soon got very weak, so I wasted no time and brought them here.”

Lubaba Shahrin, associate scientist at icddr,b, said around 400-500 patients get admitted to the hospital during spikes in diarrhoea cases every two years. The numbers were drastically higher over the past week.

Patients are arriving from Jatrabari, Mugda, Shanir Akhra, Maniknagar, Uttarkhan, Dakkhinkhan, Karail, Mohammadpur, Mirpur in Dhaka and from Narshingdi, Narayanganj, Gazipur outside the capital.

“We advise people to not eat or drink outside. Bring the water and food from home - that’s the best way to avoid having diarrhoea.”

“We can see that most patients are severely dehydrated. It is a critical condition. If they are not given saline immediately [after falling ill], the patients could die on their way to the hospital. So they must be given saline at home.”

“If they can’t have saline, it has to be delivered to the bloodstream intravenously.”