A dengue ward has been opened in a small room towards a corner of the two-storey medicine ward. Since no bed is vacant, new dengue patients are scattered on the floors in the general wards without nets, putting others at risk. Patients complain that they are not getting proper services.
This worrisome situation now prevails at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital (BSMMCH) in Faridpur. There, the authorities are struggling to cope with the pressure of dengue patients. Other local hospitals, too, are facing the same fate.
The country witnessed the deadliest month of the dengue outbreak in July with 204 deaths and 43,854 cases recorded. Dhaka city accounts for most of the deaths and cases, but the situation is worsening in rural and remote areas of the country.
Experts have already warned that the situation may become worse this month and in September.
Deaths and cases
Since the dengue menace escalated in Faridpur in early July, three people, including an expecting mother, have died there – all at BSMMCH.
Jahanara Begum, 39, a resident of Rajbari, died on July 21. Also from Rajbari, 25-year-old Roma Biswas, who was in the ninth month of her pregnancy, passed away on July 28. Two days later, 18-year-old Sohel died of dengue.
In the last 24 hours till Tuesday morning, 86 new dengue cases were confirmed in the district. Till date, 1,263 infections have been confirmed in Faridpur.
Some 276 patients are under treatment in different hospitals in the district, with most of them at BSMMCH, where 32 new patients were admitted in the 24-hour period.
BSMMCH grappling with patients
The nurses in charge of the medicine ward said they are struggling to provide medical services properly amid the surge of dengue cases.
As all beds are already booked by patients, the new patients are forced to stay on the floors in different wards, the nurses added.
As there is no mechanism to hang mosquito nets on the floor, general patients, too, are facing the risk of being bitten by Aedes mosquitoes.
Several dengue patients alleged that they are not being treated well not only in the dengue ward but in other wards. “We’re not even supplied saline often, and thus buying it from drugstores outside,” said one of the patients.
BSMMCH Director Dr Md Enamul Haque said dengue patients are being admitted at the hospital regularly for the last few weeks.
“Additionally, we have patients with other physical issues too. Our doctors and nurses are struggling to treat all of them. But we have no shortage of medicine,” he said.
Faridpur Civil Surgeon Dr Siddiqur Rahman said the number of dengue patients in the district is rising every day.
Apart from those stationed at the district headquarters, the doctors working in the upazilas have been instructed to serve the patients well and help raise mass awareness against dengue, he added.
What is the local government doing?
Aiming to prevent dengue, the authorities of Faridpur municipality are conducting mosquito control activities in 27 wards of the municipal area, where almost 200,000 people live.
Faridpur Municipal Mayor Amitab Bos said they are spraying larvicide through fogger machines.
However, the fogger machines have proven very ineffective and been found to be harmful to health.
Deputy Commissioner of Faridpur Md Quamrul Ahsan Talukder said they were carrying out mass awareness campaigns in all upazilas of the district to prevent dengue from spreading.
Mobile court raids are being conducted in different parts of the town to find those responsible for facilitating the mindless breeding of mosquitoes, he said.
“The campaign will continue”, he added.