A dengue ward has been opened in a small room towards a corner of the two-storey medicine ward. Since no bed is vacant, new dengue patients are scattered on the floors in the general wards without nets, putting others at risk. Patients complain that they are not getting proper services.
This worrisome situation now prevails at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital (BSMMCH) in Faridpur. There, the authorities are struggling to cope with the pressure of dengue patients. Other local hospitals, too, are facing the same fate.
The country witnessed the deadliest month of the dengue outbreak in July with 204 deaths and 43,854 cases recorded. Dhaka city accounts for most of the deaths and cases, but the situation is worsening in rural and remote areas of the country.
Experts have already warned that the situation may become worse this month and in September.
Since the dengue menace escalated in Faridpur in early July, three people, including an expecting mother, have died there – all at BSMMCH.
Jahanara Begum, 39, a resident of Rajbari, died on July 21. Also from Rajbari, 25-year-old Roma Biswas, who was in the ninth month of her pregnancy, passed away on July 28. Two days later, 18-year-old Sohel died of dengue.
