Although the health authorities have certain evidence of spread of coronavirus infection across the country, they have not kept any data on diagnosis of respiratory diseases in the country.
Public health experts said as the country is facing an unwanted situation following spread of Covid-19, a severely acute respiratory illness caused by a new strain of coronavirus, the health authorities should put extra emphasis on respiratory diseases reported throughout the country.
Terming it as a lacking in the procedure of Covid-19 management, they said the authorities should track all the records of diagnosis of the respiratory diseases to get the proper scenario of infection.
The health authorities in the country record diagnosis of respiratory diseases in government hospitals only at the duration of November to March 15 every year.
Most respiratory viral infections have seasonality and there are meteorological factors (like temperature, humidity) on virus survival and infection rates, a country like Bangladesh also suffers from acute respiratory diseases during the winter season.
But the country has experienced a surge of patients with respiratory problems.
According to the data provided by Health Emergency Operation Center and Control Room under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the number of cases with such diseases increased seven times more than last year, whereas it was 5.5 times more than that of 2017-18 fiscal year, 10.2 times higher than 2016-17, and 5.87 times greater than 2015-16.
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Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) cases in March this year stands at 11,930 which is 14.54 times higher than last year's number (820). In 2017-18, the number of patients with ARI was 649 while it was 1,010 in 2016-17, and only 141 in 2015-16.
When contacted, Dr Ayesha Akhter, chief of DGHS control room, told the Dhaka Tribune that they keep records of cold-related and acute respiratory diseases for the winter season only.
Since the problems get intense during winter mostly, they do not keep the records for other periods as it might create confusion about the duration of winter-based diseases, she said.
Asked about the deaths from respiratory problems, she said they do not keep such records either after March 15.
"It could be obtained from MIS [Management Information System] unit of DGHS."
The unit usually compiles the records of deaths and diagnosis of respiratory problems for the whole year.
Asked, DGHS Director (MIS) Dr Habibur Rahman said they are yet to complete the compilation as the process has been slowed down due to the coronavirus situation.
Dr Habib, also the focal person of information management group under Covid-19 integrated control room, said they do not segment the information during telemedicine process of the health authorities to identify respiratory problems separately.
"We do not keep disease-based data other than Covid-19 connection," he explained.
Dr Uttamn Kumar Barua, director at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, said this year the number of atypical pneumonia has increased.
"All these cases have to be investigated thoroughly which will help get the real scenario," he added.
Bangladesh Medical Association former president Dr Rashid-E-Mahbub said: "We have seen several lapses in process of coronavirus management in the country.
Terming inability to keep the record as a mistake in Covid-19 management, he said health authorities should have recorded the deaths from atypical pneumonia and diagnosis of other acute respiratory diseases beyond winter period as there is special condition prevailing now, he said.
In that case they could gather information from the hospitals and seek help from community healthcare providers (CHCP) to keep the record, Dr Rashid opined.