Record diarrhoea patients at icddr,b

The icddr,b in Dhaka has been struggling to cope with the deluge of diarrhoea patients over the last week.

Most of the patients are from Dhaka and nearby areas, according to the hospital.

A total of 1,272 -- or a record number of around 53 patients per hour -- were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours till 12:00am yesterday.

In the last seven days, 8,152 patients were admitted.

To provide services to additional patients, the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease and Research, Bangladesh authorities have arranged makeshift facilities on the hospital premises.

"The majority of the patients are from the capital's Jatrabari area. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the daily number of patients decreased to 100. But people now most probably have given up hand-washing practices and have been consuming street foods," Baharul Alam, chief of the icddr,b, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He advised people to drink clean water and avoid street food to stay safe from diarrhoea.

Usually, around 400-500 diarrhoea patients come to the hospital daily to take treatment, which slightly increases before monsoon and reaches the peak by the last week of April.

During the first week of March, 500 patients were admitted daily on an average, which increased to 600 the second week.

The average exceeded 1000-mark on March 17, icddr,b said.

It has been providing treatments, free of cost. The patients are discharged from hospital within 24 hours usually, according to the hospital authorities.