Bangladesh’s only specialized infectious disease hospital is battling severe overcrowding, unhygienic conditions and critical resource shortages even as it treats some of the country’s deadliest contagious diseases, raising fresh concerns over patient safety and infection control during the ongoing measles crisis.
The Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali -- the country’s main referral facility for infectious diseases -- is now treating measles, AIDS, tetanus, chickenpox, rabies, kala-azar, malaria and anthrax patients in the same overcrowded wards and corridors because of severe space shortages.
During a visit on Thursday, measles patients were found occupying wards, corridors and spaces near lifts on multiple floors of the hospital, while children and their caregivers crowded nearly every available area.
Hospital data showed that although the facility has only 15 designated measles beds, 51 measles patients were admitted that day alone.
At the same time, the 100-bed hospital was also treating AIDS, rabies, tetanus, chickenpox and other infectious disease patients.
Public health experts warn such conditions significantly increase the risk of cross-infection inside a hospital specifically meant to contain contagious diseases.
One patient, 11-year-old Asma Akter from Kishoreganj, was first admitted with chickenpox.
After recovering and returning home, she later contracted measles and had to be readmitted to the same hospital.
Relatives of patients described scenes of overcrowding and poor sanitation, saying many attendants are forced to sleep inside corridors because of bed shortages.
One guardian said they had to buy a small fan themselves because corridor areas lacked ventilation.
Visits to different floors revealed scattered waste, overflowing spaces and inadequate cleaning arrangements.
Relatives alleged that sanitation work is often carried out only once daily despite the hospital’s heavy infectious disease load.
This year alone, 1,875 patients with measles symptoms have sought treatment at the hospital.
Among them, 1,124 required admission and 406 were confirmed measles cases. At least 43 patients have died with measles or measles-like symptoms during the same period.
Hospital Superintendent AFA Asma Khanom acknowledged the severe limitations facing the facility.
She said only 19 sanitation workers currently serve the entire hospital, making it impossible to maintain proper hygiene standards.
“I am trying from my position,” she said.
“Even though efforts are being made to improve the environment, the desired change cannot be achieved.”
She also admitted that because of space shortages, patients suffering from different infectious diseases are often treated together.
The hospital’s location inside the densely populated Sat Tola slum area of Mohakhali has further complicated management and infection control, officials said.
Public health expert MA Bari warned that infectious disease hospitals should ideally remain isolated from densely populated communities to reduce transmission risks.
“Infectious diseases can spread from person to person. The denser the population around such a hospital, the higher the risk becomes,” he said.
Experts also warned that overcrowded and unhygienic conditions inside infectious disease facilities can themselves become sources of infection if immediate interventions are not taken.
With Bangladesh already struggling through its worst measles outbreak in decades, health experts say the deteriorating conditions at the country’s only specialized infectious disease hospital expose broader weaknesses in the country’s public health infrastructure.
