Pabna Diarrhoea

173 more patients hospitalised as experts look for cause of epidemic

14 October 2009, 17:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Pabna

A four-member specialised team from ICDDR'B yesterday started work to find out the nature and cause of diarrhoea epidemic in Pabna district while 173 new patients were admitted to Pabna General Hospital and Pabna Sadar upazila Health Complex in last 24 hours. The number of treatment seeker diarrhoea patients is on the rise, health officials said. The ICDDR'B team headed by Dr Sarwar Mahbub, medical officer of the Department of Epidemiology, has collected samples from different spots of the district town, health officials said. “The specialised team accompanying district health department officials and municipality officials has visited different spots of the town and collected water, foods, patients' stool, urine and other samples,” said Dr Dipak Kumar, deputy civil surgeon of Pabna. The team will conduct laboratory tests for identifying the cause of sudden diarrhoea epidemic, he said. The specialised team also comprises ICDDR'B Resource Investigation Officer Dr Apurba Chakrabarti and technologists Nurul Islam and Fazlur Rahman. Earlier on Tuesday, another four-member specialised team headed by acting director of Rajshahi division health department Dr Md Ruhul Amin visited Pabna. Meanwhile, 173 new patients were affected with diarrhoea in last 24 hours in the district. Of them, 90 patients were admitted to Pabna General Hospital while 42 others took treatment from Pabna Sadar upazila Health Complex, health officials said.