Cold infected patients flood hospitals

DOT Desk: Hospitals across the country are struggling to cope with a flood of cold infected children and elderly patients, reports The New Age.
Children are suffering mostly from acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, bronchiolitis and diarrhoea while elderly people are seeking treatment of asthma, bronchitis, acute respiratory infections and other cold infections.
Doctors told New Age that hospitals have been flooded patients suffering from various cold-related diseases since the cold spell began in early December.
Civil surgeons said patients with cold-related diseases increased in their districts.
During visits to different hospitals in the capital New Age found parents standing in long queues with their children as well as elderly patients at out-patient departments.
Dhaka Shishu Hospital treated 256 pneumonia patients in December alone.
In the last seven days, this hospital treated 61 pneumonia infected children and 42 diarrhoea patients.
Every day in December at least 500 child patients took treatment at the OPD and the emergency department of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, most of them suffering from cold-related diseases.
On Wednesday, the OPD and the emergency department were found flooded with children and their parents.
Monir Ahmed and his wife came from Kamrangirchar with their nine-month old daughter with breathing problem.
Monir said their baby became weak and due to breathing problem could not suckle her mother’s breast milk for hours.
Hasan Ali from Mirpur said he brought his 1.5-year-old son with fever, running nose and breathing difficulties.
Dhaka Shishu Hospital acting director Syed Shafi Ahmed Muaz told New Age that the kids being brought to the hospital were mostly suffering from cold-related diseases including acute respiratory infection, fever, common cold, coughing, running nose, sore throat, bronchiolitis, pneumonia and viral diarrhoea.
The number of such patients has surged from the beginning of December, he said.
The flow of child pneumonia patients increased at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said doctors.
DMCH paediatric resident physician Rajesh Majumdar told New Age that between 30 and 50 pneumonia patients were taking admission every day.
‘Many of these patients were referred by the Dhaka Shishu Hospital and Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujib Medical University,’ he said.
On an average, said Rajesh, about 200 children patients took treatment at the DMCH OPD every day, 60 per cent of them patients of cold-related diseases.
The hospital’s paediatric inpatient wards are struggling to cope with the flow of patients.
During Wednesday’s visit the paediatric wards were overflowing with patients for which three baby patients were sharing each bed.
The doctors said the increased flow of patients compelled them to allot each bed to three kids.
At the DMCH respiratory OPD a chaotic situation was seen as many patients, mostly elderly ones found no space to stand in queues.
On Wednesday until noon, DMC respiratory OPD treated 256 patients mostly with asthma, bronchitis, acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In normal times the patient flow in this OPD does not exceed a third, doctors said.
Three doctors were found sharing one table at the respiratory OPD, usually used by a single doctor.
The respiratory OPD medical officer Julia Anjuman told New Age that additional doctors were sent to this OPD to treat more patients.
The National Health Emergency control room officials said they opened separate monitoring wing in December to keep the record the cold related patient flow.
In December, according to the control room records 12,230 patients suffering from cold-related diseases took treatment at government hospitals.