Hospitals outside Dhaka under strain amid dengue surge
Doctors at district and upazila level are sending dengue patients to already under-stress Dhaka hospitals
Although the capital's dengue situation has been stable for a week, there is a worrying increase in infections outside Dhaka where healthcare establishments with insufficient facilities are grappling to handle the growing influx of patients.
Lacking enough beds, a system to administer blood platelets, and not having ICUs, many hospitals at the district and upazila levels are referring patients to already under-stress Dhaka hospitals.
Abdul Aziz, receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said he was admitted to Faridpur General Hospital two days ago after developing a fever.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"Suspecting dengue, the doctors sent me to DMCH," Aziz told The Business Standard.
Dr Niatuzzaman, acting director of the hospital, told TBS that he had been seeing a flurry of dengue patients coming from different districts including Lakshmipur, Feni, and Madaripur.
Azhar Uddin, a relative of a patient admitted to the dengue ward of Brahmanbaria General Hospital, said, "As there are not enough beds, his brother has to take treatment on the floor. The doctors said if the condition worsens, he should be taken to Dhaka."
Faizur Rahman, a resident doctor of the hospital, said they have facilities for tests required for dengue patients.
However, the hospital has no ICU, no machine to make plasma from blood, the doctor said.
"Patients are referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital or a dedicated hospital for dengue if their condition worsens," he added.
In Lakshmipur District Hospital, out of the 92 admitted patients on Saturday, 80 were dengue patients.
Dr Anwar Hossain, resident medical officer of the hospital, said they initially had separate facilities for dengue patients. "Due to the increase in patients, the dengue infected are now treated along with general patients."
Dr M Mushtaq Hussain, adviser of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said it is not good that dengue patients are being sent to Dhaka. "All hospitals should have adequate treatment facilities for dengue," he told TBS.
"In order to deal with dengue, patients should be divided into primary, secondary and critical at all levels from district to upazila. Only critical patients should be referred to medical colleges. Dengue patients should be kept in mosquito nets in all hospitals and should be surrounded with nets if possible," the doctor added.
Health Secretary Dr Muhammad Anwar Hossain Howlader said in an event on Sunday that dengue has spread in many districts. "In previous years, the disease was seen to be more in cities but now it has reached villages."
However, the secretary said they are working together with other stakeholders to prevent the spread of dengue and more emphasis should be placed on mosquito control.
Similar pictures are now in many other upazila-level hospitals.
The 50-bed Kamalnagar Upazila Health Complex in Lakshmipur had 43 dengue patients admitted, said the hospital's Family Planning Officer Dr Abu Taher on Saturday.
Savar Upazila Health Officer Dr Sayemul Huda told TBS, "Our doctors are working round the clock. We have all the tests for dengue detection except blood cell count. So the patients are not facing any difficulty in this matter."
Meanwhile, 10 more dengue patients died and 2,764 were hospitalised across the country in the last 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
With the latest figure, a total of 313 dengue patients have died and 66,732 were admitted to hospitals this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data.
Of the new cases, 1,074 were reported in Dhaka city and 1,686 from various parts of the country.
A total of 9,347 dengue patients, including 4,605 in Dhaka, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country, shows the DGHS data.
