Staff Reporter :
Diarrhoea and similar stomach-related ailments are on the rise among the populace, especially among children and the elderly, attributed to the ongoing heatwave.
The Meteorological Department forecasts the persistence of such high temperatures for several more days.
Officials from icddr,b, the specialized hospital for cholera, diarrhoea, and related stomach illnesses, report a surge in patients in recent days coinciding with the spike in temperature.
Shoaib Bin Islam, Assistant Scientist at icddr,b, notes a significant increase in patient numbers due to the oppressive heat of the past few days. He adds that while the hospital typically admits an average of 250-300 patients daily, the current count has exceeded 500.
They report an average admission rate of 15 patients per hour. From April 7 to 2 pm on April 16, at least 4,528 patients were admitted to icddr,b. Hospital physicians attribute the rise in cases to the prevailing mild to moderate heatwave across the country, leading to increased dehydration and subsequent spread of diarrhoea, with a majority of patients being children.
Furthermore, day laborers and rickshaw pullers are disproportionately affected, forced to work under the scorching sun amidst soaring temperatures.
“We are facing a dire situation as our livelihood depends on pulling rickshaws, and the high temperatures have made it exceedingly challenging,” says Tapan Mia, a rickshaw puller from the Gulistan area in the capital. Similar sentiments are echoed by others in the same profession.
