As many as 499 patients of gastro-enteritis and diarrhoea have been hospitalised at Nishtar Hospital and Children Hospital Complex (CHC) during the last nine days.
A total of 1174 patients have so far been treated at the state-owned hospitals since May 1, said Dr Muhammad Fahim, Director Emergency Ward of Nishtar Hospital and medical superintendent CHC, Dr Nazar Abbas Gardezi on Monday.
Dr Fahim said 236 cases were attended in the OPD of whom 197 serious patients were admitted to the emergency ward. Dr Gardezi disclosed that 263 kids suffering from diarrhoea were attended in the OPD while 65 patients in serious condition were admitted to the emergency ward of the CHC. The doctors said that Wasa authorities should chlorinate the water supply at source, as the Nishtar Hospital management has done.
They urged the need to improve environmental hygiene in the city as dirt and dust were among the major causes of stomach and intestines related diseases. "The authority in charge of solid waste management should sit up and take notice of the filth and garbage littering city streets and piling up in vacant plots, causing severe health hazards, said Dr Fahim.
He urged prompt and effective measures to dispose of the waste. Dr Gardezi urged people to wash hands with soap before eating anything, adding that only boiled water should be used for drinking to avoid water-borne ailments. He said use of ice from factories should be avoided, as should sliced and rotten fruit on sale by street vendors. "Children's digestion system is delicate and more vulnerable, so parents need to be more careful regarding what they eat and drink," he cautioned.