Children are among the worst affected by the ongoing heatwave, as child hospitalisation with pneumonia, asthma, breathing difficulties, and fever is on the rise in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.
Visiting several hospitals, many parents were found waiting outdoors to consult doctors or admit their children who had been suffering from fever and convulsions, cough, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and breathing complications.
Kulsum Begum, a housewife from South Keraniganj in Dhaka, was found waiting with her 15-month-old baby at the Dhaka Shishu Hospital and Institute in the capital.
鈥業 came here as my daughter has been suffering from fever and diarrhoea. If the doctor advises us to admit it, we will decide after consulting with her father,鈥� said Kulsum, whose husband is a garment worker.
Sheikh Rokon, a shopkeeper at Dhaka Udyan, admitted his 14-month-old baby to the hospital on Wednesday.
鈥楳y son is suffering from a cough and has yet to recover. In such hot weather, he used to sweat and dry by repeatedly coughing,鈥� he added.
According to DSH data, a total of 1,869 children visited the hospital between April 10 and April 20, and 143 of them were admitted.
Of which, 451 children were pneumonia patients, 1,251 came with common colds, and 167 had asthma.
鈥榃e face pressure from patients in our hospital every summer season. This year is also no exception. Most children are admitted to our hospital with pneumonia and influenza, where the diarrhoea patients are comparatively lower,鈥� Dhaka Shishu Hospital and Institute director professor Md Jahangir Alam told 抖阴精品.
He explained that children were more vulnerable to heat than adults due to their low resistance power.
鈥楳any children get affected by pneumonia during hot weather,鈥� said Jahangir.
All government and non-government schools, colleges, madrassahs, and technical educational institutions under the primary and mass education and education ministries have been declared closed for seven days starting Sunday due to the ongoing heatwave.
DSH director Jahangir urged the children not to play outside under the scorching sun during the heatwave.
鈥楾he hot weather continues from morning to evening. They should take rest at home and drink fluids in this situation,鈥� he added.
People in most of the places across the country have been suffering from heatwave since April 11.
The problem became severe in some places.
Chuadanga recorded this year鈥檚 highest temperature of 42.3C on Saturday, according to Bangladesh Metrological Department data.
After talking to directors of different hospitals and civil surgeons of districts, health and family welfare minister Samanta Lal Sen informed the media on Sunday that he had instructed everyone to be prepared to deal with adverse conditions amid a severe heatwave.
Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital鈥檚 medicine department assistant registrar Md Mizanur Rahman also claimed that they were getting more children than elderly patients amid the ongoing heatwave.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital physicians said that they were receiving patients suffering from the adverse impacts of hot weather but had yet to receive anyone suffering heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
Heatwaves sometimes trigger heat stroke, heat exhaustion, kidney disease, typhoid, premature birth, and liver problems, according to physicians.
DMCH principal Titu Miah said that people are affected by heat exhaustion after losing a huge quantity of fluids and electrolytes from their bodies through sweating.
鈥業f heat exhaustion turns severe, it increases the body temperature from 107C to 109C, affecting the kidneys and liver that leave people unconscious,鈥� he said.
He urged people not to move outside unnecessarily and to drink more water and juice, avoiding colourful dresses, wearing full-sleeve shirts, and using umbrellas.
The DMCH principal also urged day labourers, farmers and rickshaw pullers to take a break from their work and take oral saline.
鈥業f anyone is infected with heat stroke or heat exhaustion, he or she must be admitted to the hospital as soon as possible. Delay might trigger a huge loss,鈥� he added.
He also urged factory workers not to work at a stretch and to take at least a 15-20-minute break after working two hours.
Directorate General of Health Services additional director general Ahmedul Kabir, also a medicine expert, said that they had already recommended to the government to shut down schools and colleges to save children from the adverse impact of hot weather, as children are more vulnerable in such situations.
鈥榃e have given all directives to hospital authorities to treat patients with food poisoning, diarrhoea, kidney and liver diseases, and many more in hot weather,鈥� he said, urging people to use white clothes, stay away from the sun, and take a break from work.
The government hospitals in the districts are struggling with a surge of patients, mostly suffering from diarrhoea, 抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported.
Brigadier general FM Shamim Ahammad, director of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, told 抖阴精品 that a total of 2,763 patients were undergoing treatment at the hospital on Saturday, against 1,200 beds.
He said that the daily admission of patients at the hospital had increased to nearly 1,000 due to the heatwave and that they were planning to open a full-fledged heatwave corner at the hospital with specialist doctors.
