Outbreak of diarrhoea
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
DIARRHOEA has broken out in many districts of the country.
A newspaper report entitled, 'No let-up in diarrhoeal diseases' published on April 27 stated that diarrhoea outbreaks were reported from 48 districts of the country.
Diarrhoea-affected patients are coming to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) almost every day. Some of them are declared dead even before the arrival at the ICDDR,B hospitals.
Besides, excessive heat and water -- the main reasons, health experts said stale food intake also contributed to the outbreak.
Stale and rotten food and unsafe water, the poor are forced to take are the reasons, said Dr Toufiq Hasan Firoz, medical officer of communicable diseases (disease control) of health services directorate.
ICDDR,B officials said they handled about 900 patients everyday, beginning since March. Mostly, children and adult males were the patients, they said.
Lack of personal hygiene is also a cause, said head of short stay unit at ICDDR,B, Dr Azaharul Islam Khan. Families should make sure that children wash their hands after going to the toilet, he advised. He also suggested for drinking boiled water and taking hygienic food.
Some days back a national daily published a news with a picture showing a boy who had died on the way to hospital. His parents were crying holding him. The report made me speechless for a while.
Habibur Rashid Ismail
Chittagong
habibur.rashid.ismail@gmail.com
A newspaper report entitled, 'No let-up in diarrhoeal diseases' published on April 27 stated that diarrhoea outbreaks were reported from 48 districts of the country.
Diarrhoea-affected patients are coming to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) almost every day. Some of them are declared dead even before the arrival at the ICDDR,B hospitals.
Besides, excessive heat and water -- the main reasons, health experts said stale food intake also contributed to the outbreak.
Stale and rotten food and unsafe water, the poor are forced to take are the reasons, said Dr Toufiq Hasan Firoz, medical officer of communicable diseases (disease control) of health services directorate.
ICDDR,B officials said they handled about 900 patients everyday, beginning since March. Mostly, children and adult males were the patients, they said.
Lack of personal hygiene is also a cause, said head of short stay unit at ICDDR,B, Dr Azaharul Islam Khan. Families should make sure that children wash their hands after going to the toilet, he advised. He also suggested for drinking boiled water and taking hygienic food.
Some days back a national daily published a news with a picture showing a boy who had died on the way to hospital. His parents were crying holding him. The report made me speechless for a while.
Habibur Rashid Ismail
Chittagong
habibur.rashid.ismail@gmail.com