Paediatric wards in Chattogram overwhelmed as respiratory diseases surge

Shuvescha Ghosh, from Askar Dighir Par brought her five-year-old son with fever and cough to a doctor, who prescribed a course of antibiotics after examining the child. The worried mother said her child caught a cold even though winter has not yet set in.

Head of Chattogram Medical College Hospital's (CMCH) Child Health Ward, Prof Dr Mohammad Musa said that infants and children are vulnerable to cold-borne diseases such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis during late autumn and late winter. Two units of the 140-bed ward are treating patients at three times the capacity with 381 patients undergoing treatment on Tuesday.

Numerous such young patients in the port city have been suffering from bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

At CMCH, Asma Akter was seen nebulising her eight-month-old daughter on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't know what happened to my daughter… she is unable to breathe normally," the mother said.

Dr. Musa urged parents to immediately seek treatment for infants who experience breathing discomfort. He emphasised on keeping the children in smoke-free places, adding that vaccination and proper personal hygiene is quintessential for preventing diseases.

At Chattogram Ma O Shishu General Hospital, the number of patients has also increased significantly.

Dr. Fahim Hasan Reza, associate professor of the Paediatrics Department at the hospital, said that admission of patients increased from the usual 80-100 to 422 today, with the majority having pneumonia. The hospital's 41-bed NICU is fully occupied, with 35 pneumonia patients.

He added, many parents arrive late when sickness intensifies. Parents should not take any breathing problems of their child lightly, Dr Fahim said.

Dr. Rezaul Karim, former head of CMCH Paediatric Department said, bronchiolitis is a respiratory disease requiring oxygen treatment, which cannot be administered at home. He too urged parents to hospitalise children showing rapid breathing or breathing discomfort.