Number of diarrhoea patients has reduced

17 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The number of diarrhoea patients seeking treatment at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh has reduced slightly in the last few days. The number which crossed 1,000 two weeks back, yesterday stood at below 600. A total of 936 patients sought treatment at the ICDDR,B on Thursday, which came to 852 on Friday, hospital authorities said. Around 590 patients visited the hospital as of 5:00 pm yesterday. Normally, the hospital experiences about 350 to 400 patients, but during the summer and post- monsoon season, it receives even double or even more than double patients than its capacity. "However, we have found out ways to manage the pressure of the patients by setting up tents and recruiting manpower temporarily," said senior scientist and head of the Longer Stay Unit Dr Shahadat Hossain. Every year from April to June, the ICDDR,B experiences a huge crowd of patients. But this year the outbreak of diarrhoea took place early due to polluted water supplied by the WASA and excessive heat, he said. The number of patients also increases in post- monsoon season as the water in many areas gets contaminated due to flood, he added.