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Swine flu patients leave hospitals, join streams of homebound people
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury
A good number of patients taking medication for mild swine flu have left hospitals and are believed to have joined the streams of homebound people ignoring the warnings of health experts and heightening the risk for spread of the disease in the countryside.
Many people, who were undergoing treatment at different hospitals for other diseases, were also released for Eid, according to physicians.
Traditionally thousands of people leave the city for their village homes to celebrate the Eid festival with their families and relatives.
Outpatient departments at the public hospitals will remain closed on September 21 and 22 as the number of the patients dropped since Friday, a senior official at the health directorate said.
?About 50 per cent of the patients, including the persons infected with swine flu virus, have left the hospitals to celebrate Eid?,? the superintendent of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, brigadier general Dr M Abdul Majid Bhuiyan, told New Age Saturday.
The hospital has released most of the patients at their request and most of them have been discharged on risk bond (DORB), he said.
The patients who need intensive hospital care at coronary care and intensive care units and orthopaedic and urology wards, are staying at the hospital, he said.
When asked whether the hospital authorities were bound to comply with the requests of the patients, who can spread diseases, Dr Bhuiyan said, ?We try to persuade critical patients who can spread diseases not to leave hospital. But we have nothing to do if a patient insists that he should be discharged; he can go at his own risk??
Some patients have even taken recourse to deception to slip out of the hospital. A college student undergoing treatment at the flu ward left the hospital on the plea of making a phone call last week, he said. ?But he did not return.?
Professor Mostafizur Rahman, director of the chest hospital, said three swine flu patients left the hospital Saturday. ?Those who are undergoing treatment for critical diseases are staying at the hospital,? he said adding that the number of patients at the outpatients department had been decreasing since Friday.
The government experts estimated that at least 50,000 people were infected with swine flu virus in Dhaka city and most of them got cured after taking medication.
Three persons infected with swine flu died so far, according to IEDCR.
The director of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Professor A Rahat Khan, said the number of patients getting admitted to the hospital was less in comparison with the patients leaving the hospital for Eid. Some 300 children were undergoing treatment at the 533 bed hospital, he said Saturday afternoon.
?We, however, have kept physicians ready as the number of patients is expected to increase during Eid holidays as most of the private clinics cannot provide services during the vacation,? he said. ?Eight to 10 physicians will be available at the hospital anytime during the holidays.?
Both Dr Rahman and Dr Khan said outdoor departments of the public hospitals would remain closed during the vacation.
Emergency departments will remain open to attend patients, they added.
Dr M Mushtuq Husain, senior scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Control and Research, said Saturday that the number of swine flu patients was increasing in the countryside compared to the number in the capital.
He advised both swine flu and common flu patients to stay indoors so that the virus could not infect others.
Patients who have left hospitals as well as other homebound passengershould wear musk and destroy the musk after reaching their destinations.
He also advised the patients to report to the nearest public hospital if their condition deteriorates.
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury
A good number of patients taking medication for mild swine flu have left hospitals and are believed to have joined the streams of homebound people ignoring the warnings of health experts and heightening the risk for spread of the disease in the countryside.
Many people, who were undergoing treatment at different hospitals for other diseases, were also released for Eid, according to physicians.
Traditionally thousands of people leave the city for their village homes to celebrate the Eid festival with their families and relatives.
Outpatient departments at the public hospitals will remain closed on September 21 and 22 as the number of the patients dropped since Friday, a senior official at the health directorate said.
?About 50 per cent of the patients, including the persons infected with swine flu virus, have left the hospitals to celebrate Eid?,? the superintendent of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, brigadier general Dr M Abdul Majid Bhuiyan, told New Age Saturday.
The hospital has released most of the patients at their request and most of them have been discharged on risk bond (DORB), he said.
The patients who need intensive hospital care at coronary care and intensive care units and orthopaedic and urology wards, are staying at the hospital, he said.
When asked whether the hospital authorities were bound to comply with the requests of the patients, who can spread diseases, Dr Bhuiyan said, ?We try to persuade critical patients who can spread diseases not to leave hospital. But we have nothing to do if a patient insists that he should be discharged; he can go at his own risk??
Some patients have even taken recourse to deception to slip out of the hospital. A college student undergoing treatment at the flu ward left the hospital on the plea of making a phone call last week, he said. ?But he did not return.?
Professor Mostafizur Rahman, director of the chest hospital, said three swine flu patients left the hospital Saturday. ?Those who are undergoing treatment for critical diseases are staying at the hospital,? he said adding that the number of patients at the outpatients department had been decreasing since Friday.
The government experts estimated that at least 50,000 people were infected with swine flu virus in Dhaka city and most of them got cured after taking medication.
Three persons infected with swine flu died so far, according to IEDCR.
The director of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Professor A Rahat Khan, said the number of patients getting admitted to the hospital was less in comparison with the patients leaving the hospital for Eid. Some 300 children were undergoing treatment at the 533 bed hospital, he said Saturday afternoon.
?We, however, have kept physicians ready as the number of patients is expected to increase during Eid holidays as most of the private clinics cannot provide services during the vacation,? he said. ?Eight to 10 physicians will be available at the hospital anytime during the holidays.?
Both Dr Rahman and Dr Khan said outdoor departments of the public hospitals would remain closed during the vacation.
Emergency departments will remain open to attend patients, they added.
Dr M Mushtuq Husain, senior scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Control and Research, said Saturday that the number of swine flu patients was increasing in the countryside compared to the number in the capital.
He advised both swine flu and common flu patients to stay indoors so that the virus could not infect others.
Patients who have left hospitals as well as other homebound passengershould wear musk and destroy the musk after reaching their destinations.
He also advised the patients to report to the nearest public hospital if their condition deteriorates.
