Following the detection of the first confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country, the health directorate has taken an initiative to open an intensive care unit for MERS-CoV patients at the capital’s National Institute of Chest Disease Hospital (NICDH).
Health directorate officials have already asked the NICDH, which also set up a specialised ward to treat avian influenza patients in 2009, to prepare a needs-assessment and budget for opening a specialised five to eight bed ICU. However, no tentative deadline has been set for preparing the facilities at the NICDH.
The confirmed diagnosis of the country’s first MERS-CoV patient was announced on June 15. The patient, who had recently returned to the country from the US via Abu Dhabi, is currently recovering at a private hospital in the city.
Dr Mahmudur Rahman, director of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control Research (IEDCR), said a technical committee headed by the director general of health services would sit in a meeting next Tuesday to decide how an effective and advanced preparation programme would be conducted.
Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Communicable Disease Control (CDC), told the Dhaka Tribune that authorities had been alert about MERS-CoV since last year, and have already trained local-level health officials about diagnosing and treating the patients.
More than one lakh Bangladeshi Muslims are expected to take part in the upcoming hajj, while thousands of expatriates working in the Middle East also face the risk of carrying the MERS-CoV to the country.
If anybody arriving from a Middle East country becomes sick with high fever, pneumonia or respiratory ailments within 15 days of return, they should immediately seek doctors’ attention, specialists cautioned.
Before making the pilgrimage, hajis would be advised by doctors on preventative measures against MERS-CoV, while the Saudi government has asked Bangladesh to send physically fit people to perform hajj this year.
The health directorate has plans to create mass awareness about the disease, with the Ministry of Religious Affairs scheduled to meet on June 23 to discuss about MERS-CoV.
Dr Mahmudur, however, assured that there was no need to worry at the moment as the prevalence of MERS-CoV was now low. The preparations were made as advance precautionary measures, he added.
Globally, there have been 701 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection, including at least 249 related deaths that have officially been reported to the World Health Organisation.
WHO advice
Based on the current situation and available information, the WHO encouraged all its member states to continue their surveillance for acute respiratory infections and to carefully review any unusual patterns.
Until more is understood about MERS-CoV, people with diabetes, renal failure, chronic lung disease, and immune-compromised persons are considered to be at high risk of severe disease from MERS‐CoV infection. Therefore, these people should avoid close contact with animals, particularly camels.
