Measles outbreak stretches Infectious Diseases Hospital to its limit

The Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali is struggling to cope with a sudden influx of measles patients, leaving wards overcrowded and forcing families to seek treatment on balcony floors and even in front of elevator doors.

During a visit to the 100-bed facility on Friday, nearly 150 patients were found admitted.

The surge in cases has exposed significant gaps in the hospital's management, with relatives complaining of a physician shortage during weekends, poor sanitation, and hazardous medical waste disposal.

The gravity of the situation was visible on the sixth floor, where every available inch of space, including the area directly in front of the elevators, was occupied by patients lying on floors.

Infants were seen receiving saline and oxygen through nasal tubes while lying on mats on the floor amidst a foul stench.

"My daughter has been ill since before Eid,” Sohag Prodhan, who travelled from Chandpur.

What initially started as rashes, he recalled, was soon accompanied by high fever and breathing difficulties.

He had gone to the Dhaka Shishu Hospital but found no space there.

“We came here, but there was no room in the wards, so we are staying on the balcony. We have to clean the floor ourselves just to make it habitable," he added.

Anita Barman from Keraniganj shared a similar ordeal, saying she had been living on the balcony with her one-year-old daughter since Wednesday as no beds were vacant.

While the sixth floor has 24 dedicated beds for measles across two wards, a senior staff nurse confirmed that 42 patients were currently being treated in those units and the adjacent corridors for the highly infectious viral disease.

The pressure is also being felt at the emergency department, where long queues were seen on Friday with only one doctor on duty.

Relatives alleged doctors missed their schedule in the morning shift, leaving it on senior nurses to conduct the rounds.

Urmi, a physician who identified with a single name at the emergency department, acknowledged the strain.

"We are facing a manpower crisis, but the doctors on duty are attending to patients as scheduled," she claimed.

Administrative officials were not unavailable for comment on the weekend.

Sanitation remains a major concern.

Medical waste was seen being sorted directly on the hospital floor by a single cleaner.

"Patients often leave behind used items when they are discharged,” said a senior nurse.

“We only have one cleaner who works two shifts. More manpower is essential to maintain basic hygiene," she told bdnews24.com on condition of anonymity.

One relative recounted getting into an argument with hospital staff over the lack of cleanliness.

"The smell is unbearable and the floors aren't swept. When we complain, the nurses just pick a fight with us," he said.