The number of diarrhoea patients, rushing everyday to International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) during the last one week, has hit new record in the recent years, creating extra pressure on it.
According to the available data of the specialised hospital, a total of 788 patients have been hospitalised so far in 2018, which is higher than the numbers in 2016 and 2017.
In 2016 and 2017, the number of patients admitted to the hospital was 522 and 616 respectively, it added.
The data also showed that the numbers of patients in 2018 has already increased by 28 per cent compared to the number in 2017. In 2017, the number was 18 per cent higher than that of 2016.
This year, the numbers of patients admitted to the hospital are 629, 752, 642, 662, 788, 735 and 732 on April 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
Of the total patients, 30 per cent are children and the remaining are adults.
In this March, nearly 500 patients took diarrhoeal treatment at the hospital everyday on an average, said the hospital sources.
Jahangir Hossain (28) told the FE that he was staying in the city's Chakbazar area, and his one-year-old son Rafsan was admitted to the hospital on Monday following continuous loose motion.
He became very much panicked at that time, as his son was gradually becoming weaker due to the illness, he added.
50-year-old Fazila Begum said she was brought to the hospital on Sunday, as she felt acute pain in the stomach and was experiencing loose motions continuously. She could not tell the cause of her illness.
Dr Md Iqbal Hossain, senior scientist of icddr,b, told the FE: "It is our speculation that the patients are suffering from diarrhoea due to unsafe drinking water or hygiene-related problems in the Summer."
The people, who eat and buy foods from roadside restaurants and hotels, are also vulnerable to this disease. Every year the number of diarrhoea patients soars during April, he also said.
He suggested that all should drink safe water and wash hands properly before and after eating something.
Besides, the diarrhoea patients should not take any antibiotic without consulting a registered physician, he opined.
