BBH starts receiving patients with gastroenteritis

Rawalpindi
Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) in town has started receiving patients with complaints of gastroenteritis. Though majority of these patients are children, yet, according to health experts, the incidence of gastroenteritis hints towards a possible outbreak of the infection in the days to come after further rise in mercury level.
After the onset of heat spell, the BBH started receiving significant influx of school going children with gastroenteritis and the main reason observed behind it is consumption of contaminated foodstuff and water by them, said Medical Superintendent at BBH Dr. Asif Qadir Mir while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday.
He added to date, no significant number of adult patients with gastroenteritis have been registered at the hospital.
Gastroenteritis is water and food borne bacterial infection and its main symptoms include vomiting, fever, severe diarrhoea with dehydration and lowering of blood pressure. The infection can be transmitted to eatables through flies in unhygienic conditions.
The increasing number of school-going children reaching BBH with gastroenteritis shows that they consume either unsafe water for drinking or having contaminated foodstuff or locally prepared juices or ice lollies at vendors operating in unhygienic conditions, said Dr. Mir.
It is important that poor hygienic conditions at food places and vendors contaminate locally prepared drinks and foodstuff while flies in summer help spreading infections further because of sale of uncovered food, cut fruits and uncovered drinks.
Dr. Mir like other health experts says that the outbreak of the infection can be avoided with the use of clean drinking water and by avoiding consumption of contaminated water and foodstuff.
He added that every year in summer, the population in the district face an epidemic like situation after spread of gastroenteritis and the main reason behind it is found to be lack of awareness on the subject coupled with carelessness.
He said that sufficient awareness should be created among public on the importance of use of clean drinking water and foodstuff particularly when the climate starts getting hot. It is important that hot and humid weather allows bacteria to grow faster particularly the bacteria causing gastroenteritis.
According to many health experts, the district health department launches awareness campaigns every year to educate public on how to avoid gastroenteritis and like seasonal infections however a lot is needed to be done effectively to get the desired results.
It is important that one can easily witness a number of vendors selling locally prepared juices and eatables in extremely unhygienic conditions in front of almost every school in town and none of the concerned authorities have so far taken any notice of the issue.
Data collected by ‘The News’ reveals that every year in summer, the allied hospitals in town receive tens of thousands of cases with gastroenteritis and other summer-related infections and the number of these cases can be minimized with a little effort both by individuals and the government authorities.
To a query, Dr. Mir said that a great burden of patients with seasonal infections on the public sector hospitals can be avoided by avoiding outbreak of the infection and it is the right time to give due attention to the issue.