The onslaught of water-borne diseases in the capital continues with around a thousand patients checking every day into the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) alone. The number is around 500 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). A total of 840 people with cases of diarrhoea and pneumonia were admitted to the ICDDR, B in 20 hours ending at 8:00pm yesterday. Some 900 were admitted in the previous 24 hours, said Shahadat Hossain of the health research centre located at Mohakhali.According to the Directorate General of Health control room, 4,146 people contracted diarrhoea across the country in the 24 hours ending at yesterday noon. During the same period, 45 people drowned in floodwaters, three died of diarrhoea, and another three from snakebites.
The number of people diagnosed with respiratory diseases stood at 1,190, eye infections at 209 while 4,133 were reported to have come down with various water-borne diseases. Experts say diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases began to spread as floodwater started receding and it is evident in the hospitals across the city and elsewhere in the country.