Dengue downs 8 athletes
The Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) yesterday decided that a nine-day break from the ongoing preparation camp for December’s South Asian (SA) Games will be taken due to the outbreak of dengue fever in addition to the Eid-Ul-Adha holidays.
Another five female athletes have fallen victim to the mosquito-borne tropical disease as of yesterday. The number of athletes affected by dengue fever now stands at eight with four kabaddi, three kho kho and one basketball player having been affected. To make matters worse, kabaddi player Muslima Khatun was admitted to the Bangladesh Medical Hospital ICU in Dhanmondi due to low blood pressure.
According to BOA medical committee member secretary Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, however, Muslima has gradually improved since being taken to the ICU yesterday morning. In addition, Rahman also informed that four handball players are suffering from general fevers.
“Considering the overall situation of dengue and Eid-Ul-Adha, we decided to give the athletes a nine-day vacation from August 8 to 16 and the athletes are allowed to leave the camp though the initial decision was to stay at the camp under the supervision of the respective federations,” said BOA training committee member secretary AK Sarker yesterday.
However, while saying that that the treatment for the dengue patients would continue, Sarker informed that the patient would only get permission to the leave the camp after being granted clearance from the concerned doctors.
It was also learnt that the BOA will likely vacate the dormitory in the Sultana Kamal Women’s Sports Complex in Dhanmondi today, where eight female athletes were diagnosed with dengue fever. However, the BOA had already taken massive initiatives to avoid this particular situation by spraying mosquito insecticides through an Army unit while the complex was also cleaned regularly at the BOA’s expenditure.
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