Md. Moniruzzaman: The number of measles-infected children dying is increasing due to the lack of ICU service at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. Relatives regret that if there had been an ICU facility, their children might have survived. A 6-month-old child died of measles today. The death toll has reached 45 so far.
Meanwhile, one-and-a-half-year-old Rafsan finally gave up after fighting death for one and a half months. He died in the measles isolation ward of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital around 10:30 pm last Wednesday. Relatives said that his son died due to the lack of ICU facilities. Relatives, including doctors, claim that many more children’s lives could have been saved if there had been an ICU.
Parvez Mosharraf and Rupa Akhter have been running from one hospital to another for the past one and a half months to recover the deceased Rafsan Iyer. Rafsan is the only child of Parvez Mosharraf and Rupa Akhtar, residents of Gargaria Master Bari in Sripur, Gazipur. Parvez is a tea seller by profession.
The child’s father, Parvez Mosharraf, said, Rafsan contracted pneumonia due to fever in the middle of last month. At that time, I was admitted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for 5 days. Then on April 26, my son was vaccinated against measles. Later, when the fever came, he was taken to Mauna Al Hera Hospital. He stayed there for 2 days and then was taken home. After 3 days of being taken home, the fever came again. I stayed at Al Hera Hospital again for three days. Later, when his condition deteriorated, the doctors referred him to Mymensingh on May 5. He died while undergoing treatment in the measles isolation ward. He further said, I spared no effort to save my son. My only regret is that if there was an ICU at Mymensingh Medical, my son might have survived. The country’s medical system cannot be thought of as such, it cannot be that there is no ICU for children in the divisional cities.
Dr. Mazharul Amin, Assistant Registrar of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, said, “Many children have low immunity. Especially those who are dying the most. These children did not drink much breast milk from their mothers. The few children who died are suitable for ICU. Perhaps if there was an ICU, many would have survived.
Dr. Moha. Golam Mawla, Focal Person of the Ham Isolation Ward, said that child deaths are increasing due to the lack of ICU. He said, ICU was very much needed at this time. Then so many children might not have died. However, the work of setting up a children’s ICU is underway. If that is the case, the children of this region will be more protected.
Mohammad Mainuddin Khan, Assistant Director (Administration) of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, said, “We have continued to provide adequate services despite various crises. However, if we had a few ICU beds, the death rate would have been lower.” But now the most important thing is awareness. The hospital authorities do not know exactly how long it will take to build ICU beds.
A notification sent by Dr. Jhantu Sarkar, Senior Store Officer of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital on Wednesday morning said that in the 24 hours from 8 am on Tuesday to 8 am on Wednesday, one child died, and 29 children were admitted with new measles symptoms. During this time, 30 children took leave. A total of 105 children were admitted. Since March 17, 1827 people have been admitted, 1677 have been discharged. A total of 45 children have died.
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