Diarrhoea situation worsens

Cases of diarrhoea is on the rise in the capital with more than 400 patients taking treatment at the ICDDR,B every day for the last two weeks.
A total of 222 patients came to the centre from 1:00am to 12:00noon on Friday for treatment, according to the data of the institution.
The number was 559 and 481 in the two previous days, which remains below 300 in normal situation.
Most of the patients are from city's Rampura, Shonir Akhra, Jatrabari, Mohammadpur, Kalyanpur and Matuail areas.
“Diarrhoea breaks out in late monsoon every year due to scorching heat and humidity and remains till October,” said Rafiqul Islam, senior medical officer of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) at Mohakhali.
“The bacteria that cause diarrhoea become more active with the rise in humidity. However, the good news is the recent rains might ease the plight of patients,” he added.
Relatives of the patients said they have to use dirty and stinky supply water at home.
Shoyon, a 10 months old boy from Badda, recovered after receiving treatment at the centre. His mother said their supply water is often dirty. She boils that water to drink it along with her family, as she has no alternative.
But many in the city cannot boil the water due to a gas crisis, and they are forced to drink the filthy supply water.
“There is no gas connection in my house at Matuail, and boiling water on a kerosene stove is beyond my capacity. So I drink the supply water,” said Bashir Uddin, who was attending his 36-year-old brother.
The ICDDR,B authorities were doing makeshift arrangements on its compound for the rising number of patients.
People from lower income group mostly suffer from diarrhoea, as they are not much aware about hygiene, and often eat at roadside food stalls and drink supply water, doctors noted.
They advised people to avoid stale foodstuff and food from vendors, and suggested providing oral saline to diarrhoea patients.