Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Hospitals in Dhaka are packed with dengue patients so much amid an outbreak of the disease that the relatives have to rush from one hospital to another to get their loved ones urgent medical attention.
The government hospitals, including the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, are keeping dengue patients on floors and corridors with the beds fully booked.
Doctors are also struggling to attend to so many dengue patients.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services, 386 dengue patients got admitted to hospitals in the capital in 24 hours until Friday morning.
More than 9,500 people have been affected by dengue so far this year, including a record 6,500 in July, the directorate said.
At least 23 people have died from dengue so far this year after the outbreak started in early June along with monsoon, according to a count, though the government puts the death toll at eight.
bdnews24.com reported that its correspondents visited eight hospitals in Mirpur, Kalyanpur, Dhanmondi, Moghbazar, Kakrail and Old Dhaka to get a full picture of the situation.
At the Central Hospital in Dhanmondi, at least 10 patients were awaiting admission at the emergency department.
The hospital’s deputy director AKM Mojaher Hossain said they have treated 715 dengue patients so far this year and were currently treating 95.
“We have diverted many patients diagnosed with other diseases as we are prioritising dengue patients. But we had to send many of the dengue patients back home with medication when we didn’t have any seat. Some of these patients should have undergone treatment at hospital,” he said.
Faysal Ahmed, a doctor at the Bangladesh Medical College Hospital in the same area, said 18 of the 46 patients who came to emergency department on Friday were diagnosed with dengue, but the hospital admitted only six considering the situation.
“It’s painful to send patients back home owing to a lack of seats. The patients’ conditions are deteriorating as they are being rushed to one hospital from another,” the doctor said.
Zakir Hossain, who was waiting to get his wife hospitalised for dengue, said he first visited the City Hospital and the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.
“There is no place to even walk on the corridors of the government hospitals, let alone get admission. Now the situation is same at this private hospital,” he said.
The situation was all but similar at the Ibn Sina Medical College Hospital at Kalyanpur, Rushmono Specialised Hospial at Moghbazar, a branch of the BIRDEM Hospital in Mirpur, the Islami Bank Specialised Hospital at Kakrail, and the National Medical College Hospital in Old Dhaka.
An official at the Popular Diagnostic Centre and Hospital at Dhanmondi said they kept some seats reserved for dengue patients.