Cold-related illness increases in Tangail

Keeping pace with the gradually intensifying winter, catarrh, cough, and other cold-related diseases are on the rise in Tangail.

Already hospitals in the district are struggling to accommodate the spiraling number of patients, many of whom are being forced to stay on the floors of the veranda of the hospitals due to lack of beds, increasing the suffering of the patients, especially the children, and their relatives, according to the sources concerned.

They said the number of patients, mostly children, started increasing at the beginning of this month. The hospital authorities are struggling to cope with the pressure of additional patients. Many patients are not getting any beds.

Sources from the Tangail General Hospital said that the children’s ward of the hospital is now crammed with an overwhelming number of patients. Against the 43 seats in the ward, 112 patients were admitted on Thursday while the number of newly admitted patients was 116 and 117 on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Relatives of the patients said that even after being admitted with cold-related diseases, they were forced to stay on the floor of the ward or veranda for getting treatments, due to the lack of adequate beds. The hospital authorities failed to arrange any alternative.

Sabiha, a housewife of Charjana village in Sadar upazila, admitted her daughter to the Tangail General Hospital three days ago. She was forced to manage space on the floor of the veranda due to the unavailability of beds. Later, her daughter was shifted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after her condition deteriorated.

“My daughter fell sick a few days ago, we could not manage a hospital bed for her. Staying on the floor is distressful but there is no alternative. Many other patients are also staying on the hospital floor,” she said.

Dr Nurul Islam Shamim, in charge of the children’s ward of Tangail General Hospital, said, “The weather changes significantly in October and November. During this time, children are affected by different cold-related diseases. As a result, the number of child patients has increased a lot in the last week.

“A little extra care can keep children away from cold-related diseases. Breastfeeding the newborns up to six months boosts their immune system which controls the cold-related complications to some extent,” the doctor added.

Dr Lutfor Rahman, the residential medical officer of the hospital, said, “More than 800 patients with cold-related diseases were admitted last week. We are struggling to cope with the additional pressure and trying our best to provide treatment to the patients.”

Supervisor of Tangail General Hospital Dr Khandakar Sadequr Rahman also echoed the same, saying, “The number of patients getting admitted to the hospital every day is more than twice the capacity. As a result, patients are facing a lot of problems. We are trying our best to provide proper treatment, although the excessive pressure is hindering services in the hospital.”

Meanwhile, all upazila health complexes in the district are also receiving an increasing number of patients.